My Sanity is Now Completly Gone
by I am Alice Cullen
Summary: Life for Takiko Okuda isn't the same. She's lost everything; family, friends, her job...the love of her life. But maybe theres a chance she can change some of that. The epic, action-packed conclusion to the trilogy. Does 'happily ever after' truly exist?
1. Chapter 1

**IMPORTANT NOTE; Before you read, I would just like to say I have nothing against Texan people, nor do I have anything against Mexican people. So if anyone takes offence, I deeply appologize. Nothing in here is meant to be racist.**

"What would you like to order, sir?" I asked from behind the bar's counter while I was drying a glass with a clean, white rag. The man in front of me paused a moment, his eyes drifting down to where they shouldn't have been. I tried to take a deep, calming breath,_ don't smack him, don't smack him, DO NOT SMACK HIS HEAD OFF_! "Sir?" I asked instead, my eyebrows rose as I set the glass on the counter.

The man shook his head and smiled up at me sweetly. "I'd like a miller, please." I smiled the diplomatic smile that I'd grown accustomed to using these past four months and turned before letting my expression sour as I rolled my eyes. How could anyone stand drinking alcohol? It smelled so nasty! Under regular circumstances I would have said something about it to the man, but I was sure that my boss would fire me.

Not that I really cared. I wasn't even going to be in this small, little, run-down Texas town by the end of this week.

I turned around and served the man his drink with that same diplomatic smile before returning to drying off the glasses.

Life is a strange thing, I've learned. It likes to fool you, lure you into a false sense of security. Everything seems to be good and then WHAM! It all falls apart and there's nothing you can do to stop it. The first few weeks after the tragedy are the worst; you're trying to move on, but you know you can't and it frustrates you to no end. After those first few weeks, you seem normal, but those who know you can see that you're broken and have no life left. That's one of the worst parts of it all, knowing you can't live up to what you're friends know you can be any longer.

That's the main reason I left.

No, there were other reasons too. I'd returned home from Japan shortly after my life collapsed about me. I was out of a job, but I still had all the money I ever needed. I still had all the money I ever needed, but I'll get to that later. I was tempted to sell the house that I'd bought, but when I thought about it more I figured that I'd need it after all this was done.

I went back to the school I'd originally been going to when I first came to this time period. It was awkward for me since everyone wouldn't stop staring and rumors wouldn't stop running around. Many said I was pregnant. No, I definitely wasn't that. Many said I'd lost my voice. No, not that either, I was healthy as a horse and could sing like a canary. Other's said I'd lost my fiancée.

That rumor was spot on.

I tried my best to ignore the rumors, but sometimes Crin would catch me in the bathroom trying to pull myself together. Hey, we can't all be perfect.

Anyway, I finished high school but instead of celebrating I started to completely devote my life to one thing…

Finding all the celestial warriors.

I tried to 'work from home', I really did. I even found two Byakko warriors living in different areas of California and I contacted them, letting them know I'd need them soon.

But it didn't take me long to hit a slump. I couldn't find any clues whatsoever, and none of my warrior's counsel helped. I started to get desperate. I had two more people to find from my side! So I did the only thing that I could figure to do.

I ran away.

Well, that's what Crin accused me of doing when I called the house using a pay phone in Nevada– the girls where now sleeping in the house I'd bought while the guys kept the old apartment. Ok, just because I successfully snuck out in the dead of the night without telling anyone where I was going and only leaving a note behind telling them that I'd be fine and they didn't have to worry, doesn't mean I actually "ran away". I just took my work away from home, that's all.

Look, all I wanted was some time alone. My warriors and friends were all trying to be nice, to keep away from that taboo subject, all of them hoping I wouldn't notice, but I did. I know they were just trying to help, but I couldn't stand it. I didn't want to have Takara sneaking into my room every night to check on me anymore. I didn't want them to sneak pitied looks at me any longer. I just wanted to pretend that everything was fine.

Even though it wasn't, but that's not the point.

I called them every week for the past two months using pay phones just before I left an area so that I couldn't be tracked. I had no credit cards or anything that they could track me with either, just the cash I'd pulled out of the bank the day before I left.

So I'd been traveling around the country looking for my celestial warriors. It was kind of nice to see the things I'd seen in pictures in books, they were so much prettier live and in person. And on the road I felt free. I could finally understand why for the longest time he originally wanted to travel alone. It was so…peaceful.

**CRASH! **

I sighed and gently put the cup I'd been drying onto the table. "Takiko!" My manager called, "go clean up the glass spill under table 5!"

I hated customers.

Nevertheless I grabbed the broom and walked out from behind the bar and headed towards table 5, ignoring the looks I got from the guys at the counter. Men were so unattractive when they were drunk, I'd come to realize. And yet they tended to reveal more of the things you wanted at the same time.

As I started to sweep the mess, the man sitting at the table grinned up at me with a cocky smile. "Hey babe," he gushed. I paused and looked at him skeptically and then went back to sweeping.

"Hello sir." I hoped with all my being that he got the message and left me alone, but apparently he didn't. Instead, he snaked his arm around my waist and pulled me to him. Um, Hooters was down the street, I wanted to point out, but refrained. Instead I pushed myself out of his grasp.

"Hey babe, don't be like that!" The man gushed. I stopped sweeping and looked at him again. This guy was like in his mid-forties, it seemed. I don't know how he thought I'd ever go for a guy like him, but apparently he seemed to be hoping.

"Sorry sir, is there anything I can get you? A refill, perhaps?" I asked as sweetly as possible.

"Nah, that's okay babe!" I smiled at him and then turned back to my sweeping, resisting the urge to smack him. I hated pet names. I wasn't a dog.

I leaned down with the dust pan to sweep up the glass and as I was doing so, I could see the man looking down my blouse through the reflection of the glass shard.

That's it, I thought as I casually thrust the broom handle into his jaw. "OUCH!" he yelped, rubbing his jaw. I looked up, my eyes innocent.

"Oh dear, clumsy me! I'm so sorry sir; can I get you anything to make up for that?" I stood with the now full dust pan in my hand. The man said nothing for a moment and I hoped he was too angry to want something, but my hopes were in vain. Instead, he smiled a strained smile and wrapped his arms around my waist again, this time tighter.

"Nah, I'm fine!" He gushed again. I was really starting to get sick.

"Sir, could you please let me go?" I asked in a strained voice. The man said nothing, only pulled me tighter and nuzzled his face into my stomach. "Sir…let me go." My voice was now hard as I looked back at my co-worker, Jenny I think her name was, for help. Jenny seemed to get the message; she instantly excused herself from where she was serving someone I couldn't see and started over, the bottle still sitting on her silver platter.

"Sir," Jenny started as soon as she was close enough. Out of the corner of my right eye I could see someone heading towards the scene as though to put a stop to it, but before that could happen I grabbed the bottle on Jenny's platter and smashed the guy over the head with it. The guy yelped and instantly let go as he passed out on the floor. I stepped away, handing what was left of the broken bottle to a shocked Jenny who stared at me like I'd just grown another head.

"Here you go." I simply told her with a small, amused smile. I turned around to see who it was that had started to come to my rescue and froze. The person had tried to hide themselves behind a newspaper, but it was too late. I hadn't seen their face, but I knew who it was just by the little I'd seen.

"TAKIKO, WHAT ARE YOU DOING? YOU CAN'T DO THAT!" My manager screamed as he ran to the scene, "THAT'S A CUSTOMER…"

"Well I just did," I whirled to face him, my hands on my hips. "And I also just quit." I untied the apron from around my waist and tossed it to him. He caught it with a dazed look.

"You can't just…"

"But I did." I interrupted as I headed towards the back to change out of my uniform. "See you later…" I called as I walked through the employee bathroom where my bag was. "Not," I muttered. I quickly pulled my now shoulder length hair out of the pony tail I'd thrown it into and ran my fingers through it, trying to get the crease out of it. It didn't take me long and I quickly changed into a pair of Jeans and a black, v-neck t-shirt. Before I left the bathroom, I shrugged on my motorcycle boots and a motorcycle jacket.

As I left the bathroom, I glanced towards where the would-be savior had been sitting to find the seat empty. I sighed and left the bar through the back door. Somehow I had a feeling I'd be meeting up with them quite soon.

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I trudged up the slippery metal stairs of the motel, the warm wind gently blowing in my face as I did so. It was about nine thirty and in the distance I could hear a coyote howl while another one barked somewhere else. Besides that the little town was silent. As I reached the top of the stairs, a car passed by on the only main road, but quickly disappeared into the middle of nowhere. That's pretty much what most of Texas was, I'd noticed. If there wasn't a small town or a major city, you were pretty much in the middle of nowhere. And small towns usually only had a few trailer homes, a motel, a Wendy's, a bar and a gas station. If they were lucky, they had a few more restaurants.

Hey, we had Ihop, so I didn't complain.

I reached the top of the stairs and started to head towards the room I was occupying in the little motel, my boots thudding against the metal floor. My neighbor, who was about my age and was talking to her boyfriend, looked over at me and smiled as I walked by. "Hello Takiko, how are you?"

I stopped just before my door and smiled a little. "I'll manage," I replied in a small, polite voice. I had absolutely no clue what her name was and I'd been living here for two weeks now. All I knew about her was that she was always with her boyfriend when I got home from work. It was like they just hung outside all the time like no one minded watching them make out. And trust me, I minded. Frankly I minded whenever someone was getting all lovey dovey in public. Now I understood what Takara, my fiancée's sister, meant when she said "get a room!"

"Well, goodnight Takiko," she said after an awkward silence, looking at me as though she didn't know what to say to me.

"Goodnight," I replied again before unlocking my door and stepping into my dark room. As soon as the door was closed I sighed and leaned against it, my fingers reaching for the switch. When I found it I flipped the light on and looked into the empty room before me.

The room had one double bed—like I needed that – with a night stand on either side. In front of the bed was a fairly good sized TV sitting on some drawers. On the other side of the room was a small kitchen that I'd hardly ever touched – hey, I wasn't that great of a cook, I wasn't going to risk poisoning myself—with a small round table in the middle of it.

I went over to the table and dropped my bag onto it as I sat in the chair and started to take of my boots. As I sat down, I took one better look around…

Something wasn't right in here.

Every morning I had a habit of making the bed. Don't ask why, I just did. And after watching a little of the weather I always placed the controllers on the bed's right side nightstand.

The bed's sheets were now crumpled as though someone had been lying on it and the TV remote was lying on the bed.

I instantly tensed, my heart thudding in my chest. At first I was wondering if some random creepy guy had broken into my apartment and was waiting till the perfect moment to jump out and murder me with an axe, but then I remembered the person in the bar and let out a sigh of relief. I really needed to stop watching horror movies.

I looked around, trying to see where they might be and my eyes fell immediately to the bathroom door to find it firmly closed.

And I'd kept it open this morning.

I casually finished taking off my boots and then strolled over to the bed, plopping myself down on it. I waited till I was comfortable before I said anything.

"You can come out of the bathroom now, Crin. I didn't hear any reports of there being a twister or anything, so there really is no point of hiding in there." _(An; for those of you who don't know, Texas doesn't have basements, so if there's a twister, one of the safest places to hide is in the bathtub. It goes for anywhere without a basement. And yes, I actually have been in a twister before, but not a dangerous one. It didn't even touch the ground, so all it did was blow and knock down some trash cans. Ari's AN: I've been in like five, and one almost touched down in front of my house. It was scary…) _

"I'm not hiding! I just needed to…um…I NEEDED TO PEE!" I rolled my eyes as her voice drifted from the bathroom.

"Sure you did Crin. Seriously, come out of there please." I called again, flipping the TV on and going through the channels as though I was completely calm. Football…football…more football… Texans just loves football, don't they?

"Oh fine…but I really did need to pee. You just surprised me when you came in is all. I mean, it's Texas , you never know if there will be some random guy with a chainsaw busting in." Crin mumbled to herself as she came out of the bathroom.

My eyebrows rose as I muted the TV. "I think you need to stop watching Texas Chainsaw Massacre." I told her, "and what in the world are you doing, breaking into my room? I could turn you in for breaking and entering."

"Technically, I did not break anything, if you will notice. Therefore I only entered and that is not against the law." Crin stated, matter-of-factly. I rolled my eyes again.

"Okay seriously," I finally said after an awkward pause, "What are you doing here?"

Crin instantly became serious, her hands going to her hip as she got ready to scold me. "What do you _think_ I'm doing here? You leave a note saying 'oh, I'll be fine, no need to worry!' No need to worry my butt! You have dangerous people tailing you and you run off to fulfill your own happy little needs. I don't blame you for ditching the rest of them but wherever you go you _need_ to take me with you! I mean we're bestest buddies!" I burst into laughter and sat up, shaking my head and rubbing my temples.

"Do I look injured to you? Physically, I mean."

Crin's eyebrows rose. "Do you want me to check? Because the last time I checked you for injuries I found that you are _way_ too modest for your own good."

I looked up at her skeptically. "No, I'm good thanks. I'm fine, really. Sure, the ribs hurt if I do something too…" I stopped myself before I could say 'reckless', but Crin's eyebrows rose, indicating that she knew perfectly well what I was about to say. "Well, you get it. But other than that I'm healthy as a horse!" Crin didn't look like she believed me, so I sighed and changed the subject. "Well at least I called every other week."

Ok, well calling them hadn't actually helped lessen the magnitude of what I'd done. My phone conversations pretty much went like this;

Me; "Hey guys, I'm just calling to let you know I'm alive." Oh….now that I thought about it that didn't sound too good…

Everyone on speaker at once; "ARE YOU OKAY? WHEN ARE YOU COMING HOME?" etc.

Crin; "EVERYONE SHUT UP! Takiko, where are you?"

Me; "Oh, just leaving this place…"

Crin; "THAT'S NOT A LOCATION!"

Me; "Look, I gotta go, see you later, okay?"

So I didn't blame Crin for suddenly blowing up like she did. As soon as I mentioned the phone calls, her eyes flashed red and her hands clenched into fists.

"Let's get one thing straight, those sorry excuses for 'phone calls' were totally insufficient by any means. I can understand you not wanting _them_ to tag along but I was very, _**extremely**_, offended when you left _**me**_ behind!"

I gulped and had to seriously resist the urge to duck behind the bed for cover; I was terrified she'd start throwing flames. "Crin…take deep, calming breaths please! We really don't need to be burning down the motel, because that would be a bad thing. You might hurt someone, you don't want that do you?" I was using my calming, light voice. The Red in Crin's eyes became less vibrant, but they were still there. She seemed more irritated now. "Okay, I'm sorry I didn't take you. I didn't mean to offend you, seriously. Next time I decide to take my work away from home—I DID NOT RUN AWAY!" I pointed at her when she opened her mouth to protest, "I will make sure to bring you along."

"You better!" Crin huffed, "Now, what's this taking your work away from home? Do you honestly think roaming all over the country is going to help you magically run into a warrior?" I smiled a secret smile, this was just what I'd been hoping the conversation would turn to.

"Well, I figured since that's how I did it back in the book, I should be able to do it again. And," I stood, my hands on my hips and a small smile of triumph on my face. "I found one."

"One? You really think that the ratio of four months to one warrior is going to get us anywhere? Really Takiko, I thought you were smarter than that."

I rolled my eyes. "I've only been missing for two months, excuse me. And the country is huge. We know where Hagus is….sort of…but we need to find his twin brother." I started to pace, "Once we find his twin brother and get him out of Temudan's hands, I'm sure Hagus will have a much easier time with joining us." I paused, "Oh, and don't forget the two Byakko warriors I found before I left."

"Well let's see, that means you have five more Byakko warriors to find correct? And not only that but we still need to help Yui and Miaka find the rest of their warriors."

"Miaka is taken care of," I reminded Crin, "she knows where all her warriors are and I'm going to be calling them soon to find out where they are on that."

Crin shifted from one foot to the other as she thought of another way to get me. "Well," She started, dragging the ll's out. Finally, in a sudden rush of words that I had to really had to concentrate to understand, she said, "But still, you have a lot to do and it will be easier with two people and I know that secretly you missed me and ok maybe I missed you a bit too but you can't do this alone so you have to let me help you!"

I blinked at her for a long moment as her words sunk in and then I started to giggle. Before she could react, I had my arms around her in a tight hug. "It's not a secret, silly, of COURSE I missed you! Why wouldn't I?" I pulled away, but my hands were still on her shoulders. "You have kept me sane these past four months." My voice darkened, but I still tried to keep the tone light.

Crin smiled a bit before she changed the subject. "Let's get this show on the road then! Now, tell me about this warrior you found, and might I ask why you are in Texas ? You know that only scary people live in Texas ." I burst out laughing and patted her shoulder.

"Seriously, lay off the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Anyway, this warrior I found is Hatsui. I was worried about him from the beginning because he's only a kid. If he had parents, what was I supposed to say? 'Hey, I need to borrow your kid for a _really_ long time because he's my celestial warrior and we need to take down some bad guy butt so that I can get Genbu out of my hair and my fiancée back!' Somehow I didn't think any good parent would fall for that.

"So then I thought what if he's in an orphanage? I'm not old enough to adopt a kid and I'm not ready to take that kind of responsibility. And I couldn't tell the orphanage that, nor could I just kidnap him. The cops would be looking for him everywhere and he'd be all over the news. So I went down to Mexico on one of my days off, just for the heck of it, and guess what acted up on the border?"

"The Necklace," Crin answered.

"Yup! So I followed it and it turns out he's just living on the streets. Which is bad for him…but still, makes things a whole lot easier. So for the past few weeks I've been setting up a way to get him out of there legally. And now," I walked over to my bag and pulled out the papers, waving them proudly in the air. "I got them. I'm busting him out of there tomorrow!"

Crin clapped her hands together in excitement. "Yay! I've always wanted to try some of that special Mexican Candy!"

"And _after_ we get him, guess where we're going?" Crin shrugged, "Home."

Crin's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "EH?! But I thought you and I were going to get special best buddies alone time where we could have sleepovers and stay up late watching scary movies!"

I shook my head. "Crin, I've been out on the road for two months. Believe it or not I actually am very tired and although I like being out here alone, I still think it's time to go home. I was going to go home anyway after I got Hatsui. Besides, I'd like to sleep in my own bed." I paused, "And I think that Temdan's headquarters are somewhere in northern California . Not quite where we live, but close enough. That's something we ALL need to be in on."

I sighed, "We can have a sleepover tonight, if you want. And whenever you want, I'll get the other girls to go sleep at the apartment and we can have the whole mansion to ourselves. I'll even let you fill the pool with chocolate."

Crin's eyes brightened, "I never thought of that," she whispered to herself as she considered the possibilities. Suddenly her expression became serious, "Takiko, do you really think you're ready for this? Once we gather all the warriors and face Temdan who knows what the outcome will be? Some of us might even get killed. Are you ready to face that if it happens?"

I stopped smiling and frowned, my eyebrows furrowing. "I don't think that's something anyone can be ready for, Crin. I wasn't ready for it the first time either, but I still did it. I've realized that in battle people die, and I don't want anyone of you to die. I'll do anything to prevent that from happening. I just…don't know if I can face it afterwards."

Crin sighed and shrugged. "I guess we'll just have to cross that bridge when we come to it. As for now, let's get Hatsui!"

I burst into laughter; Crin was the only one who could make me do that nowadays. "It's the middle of the night, silly. Let me take a shower and we'll go first thing in the morning."

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The next morning I strode out to my Harley in jeans, motorcycle boots, a black tank top and a motorcycle jacket, and stuffed my bag into the storage compartment to the side of the motorcycle. Crin stared at me from the stairs, wearing her usual frills despite the heat.

"You know how to drive a motorcycle?" She asked warily.

"Actually it was one of my first vehicles upon arriving in this century." I didn't feel like explaining the reason why I decided to buy one now.

I liked the feeling of being surrounded by wind.

"Um, I'll be right back." Suddenly Crin dashed back into the apartment. I sighed and started the motorcycle, waiting for her to come back. When she finally dashed back, wearing a matching, tight fitting black graphic T-shirt and a black mini skirt. "See! Now I'm hardcore too!"

I rolled my eyes and motioned with my head for her to hop on, which she gladly did so. "Keep your legs away from the muffler please."

"But…I'm hardcore…"

"Just be careful, okay?" I started off down the street, the wind blowing the mumbled complaints that Crin had started up back behind me.

For a long while we drove in silence. The only sound was the motorcycle, the wind running through our hair and the cars we passed as we sped by, going at speeds higher than what was really legal.

It took us about an hour and a half to get to the border – I hadn't been living too far away from the border in the first place—and when I pulled up to the gate, I smiled sweetly at the guard standing there.

"Good afternoon," I greeted as the guard strolled over. I'd met him a few times from my trips over the border to work on getting Hatsui into America legally. He smiled back at me.

"Ms. Okuda," he greeted back. "How long will you be in Mexico ?"

"Hour at the most. I have what I need, I just need to get my friend." The guard nodded and stepped aside, waving me through. I thanked him and then sped off over the bridge that connected the two countries.

"Aren't they supposed to check your luggage?" Crin asked from behind me. I shrugged in response as my mind drifted to the contents in my bag.

"I don't know, but it would be bad if they did." I replied.

"Why?"

"You know why." My voice said it all. Ever since I'd bought my first gun – which I had lost after the first time I'd used it—I'd kept the gun Sarin had given me in my bag at all times. I'd never actually used it since then, but I still kept it close just in case. Truthfully I was a little scared to use it again. Sarin had convinced me that killing Ziyi wasn't my fault because if I hadn't he would have killed me, but I still felt a little uneasy about using a gun again.

After a few moments of silence, we started to enter into one of the border cities. I slowed down, trying to avoid hitting bystanders or homeless people. It didn't take long for Crin to get angry. She let out a low hiss and in my mind I could picture her eyes turning red.

"You went here WITHOUT ME? YOU COULD HAVE BEEN KIDNAPED! OR WORSE! AND NO ONE WOULD HAVE CARED SO THEN WHERE WOULD WE BE? WE WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN ABLE TO FIND YOU!"

"Crin," I sighed as I took a sharp turn down a dark alley way, "You can yell and scream at me all you want when I'm not driving."

"I can't believe you, walking into a place where you _know_ you could get into serious trouble…I sometimes wonder if you're going to survive till the end of next month!" Crin mumbled, but I ignored her. "When are we going to get there? I wanna get out of here. This place is scarier than Texas ."

I turned another corner and slowed to a stop. "Right now." We were stopped in an alley way with no windows on either of the buildings. Trash was everywhere and it was obvious that sanitation was not used in this area at all. Crin cast me another disproving glance and I sighed irritably. "Well I wasn't going to just leave him here! He's my warrior and a very sweet one too!"

Crin shook her head but said nothing, only looked ahead at the seemingly deserted alley way. "So where is he?"

I shrugged in response. "He should be around here somewhere," I started to lead the way and Crin instantly followed close behind. We walked for a while, turning a few corners with caution. Anytime we passed a homeless guy Crin walked so close to me that I could feel her wariness illuminating from her body. I couldn't help but laugh; she was the one in a mini skirt.

Finally as we turned the last corner, we found him huddled against the wall…

With a group of three, clearly older teenage boys crowding around him. They were saying something in Spanish, something I couldn't understand—I'd performed once in Mexico City a few years back, so I only knew enough Spanish to get me through a song and to get me what I needed. But although I didn't understand a word or what they were saying, it was obvious that they were hostile. One of the boys grabbed a hold of his hair while the others kicked dirt onto Hatsui, who cowered there.

"HEY!" I yelled. Crin's head whirled to look at me, her eyes clearly telling me, "SHUT UP!" I didn't pay attention. "Do you guys speak English?"

The guy in the middle – I assumed he was the leader, he was much taller than I was—stepped forward, his eyes watching us warily, "Yes," he answered, although his English was heavily accented.

"I was wondering if you'd be so kind as to let the poor boy go." The boys glanced at each other before erupting into snickers. Had I said something funny?

"Sorry, but no can do." The leader answered me, his expression full of amusement. And then they just turned their backs on me and started taunting Hatsui again. As if I didn't even exist! Anger flared within me as I clenched my fists and narrowed my eyes. I _really_ hated being stepped on.

Before anyone could stop me, I was running towards the leader of the group and leapt into the air, jumping onto his back and biting his neck. The boy I was on top of cried out and jumped back a step, his hands going to try to pull me off.

"ARE YOU CRAZY?" He yelled before he started saying a bunch of Spanish. The other boys looked like they didn't know what to do at first. Then one by one they seemed to snap out of it and started to go to their leader's aid…

Until Crin stepped in.

"Stay away from her," Crin growled, her voice menacing, her eyes deep red. "Unless you want to face me." The boys paused and then reluctantly laughed. The last time they'd laughed, I'd attacked their leader—who was still trying to get me off. In response I only bit harder, making him yelp again.

"You laugh now, creepy Mexican kids, but I'd just like you to SAY HELLO TO MY LITTLE FRIEND!" Crin suddenly whipped out her spear out of nowhere – how did she DO that?—and threatened the boys. The boys gulped, slowly backing off.

I unclamped my jaw from the boy's shoulder, but still held on tight. "Are you going to let the boy go?" I asked, my voice deadly. The boy hesitated, but when I leaned in to bite again he yelped.

"YES, WE'LL LEAVE HIM ALONE! JUST LET GO OF ME!" I gladly did so – he tasted REALLY nasty—and he backed up with the rest of his boys. I walked over to Hatsui – Crin still had her spear ready to pierce anyone who came near—and pulled him up.

"Are you alright, Hatsui?" I whispered to him, giving his arm a small squeeze. Hatsui nodded, his small, roundish body still quivering. He had hardly changed a bit since the book. The only difference was that he looked a little older and his hair was shorter. "Let's go then," I whispered as we started to back out of the alley way, our eyes staring warily at the boys who stood together, watching us with their black eyes.

It was VERY creepy.

As soon as we rounded the corner, we burst into a run, heading back for the motorcycle. I had Hatsui's hand and lead the way while Crin stayed a few paces behind to make sure the boys –who, I'm sure, were following us now—didn't attack.

When we rounded the last corner, I immediately threw my leg over the motorcycle, turning it on while Hatsui climbed up behind me, his arms wrapping around my waist. Crin practically threw herself onto the motorcycle when she made sure it was on, probably ruining my shocks. She looked like she didn't really care though, her expression was a mixture of annoyance and frustration as she cried, "GO!"

We sped off at a speed suitable for three passengers but enough for us to get far away from the boys who had just rounded the corner, leaving them literally in the dust.

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**So here we go again! Yes, this story will be in Takiko's first person. I don't remember if I said that the last time I updated....But I've been making an outline and this story is going to be EPIC! Full of action-packed, suspensful sequences. IT WILL BE AMAZING! :D **

**REVIEW! **

**Love, **

**Alice**

**PS: READ REBORN BY ARI SORENO!**


	2. Chapter 2

"Stay close Hatsui," I whispered as we headed up the steps to my front door late that evening. We had been lucky and were able to secure a last minute flight back to Los Angeles and after I parked my motorcycle, we had started up the steps.

"Are you ready for this Takiko? They're probably going to attack you…" Crin whispered back as I tried the door knob. Locked already. We hadn't called or told anyone that we were coming home, and from the looks of it every light in the house was on, indicating that everyone was awake.

"I don't mind; I'm a little used to it." I glared back at Crin who only snickered. She'd attacked me MANY times since I first met her. I pulled out my keys and unlocked the door and pushed it open, light flooding out and momentarily blinding us. When our eyes adjusted, I pushed a tense Hatsui inside.

"This is where you live, your eminence?" he asked, his voice full of awe. I giggled as Crin shut the door behind us.

"Yes, though you'll probably live with Tomite and Hikitsu. Its still a very nice place to live, just smaller." I told him before I called out, "I'M HOME!"

Everyone practically seemed to have dropped what they were doing—I could hear a clatter from the kitchen and a scrapping of chairs against the floor—and everyone ran to me from different areas of the house, relief shown in all of their expressions as they tackled me. "TAKIKO YOU'RE HOME!" Kay cried, "WHERES MY CAMERA?!"

"WHERE WERE YOU? YOU HAD US WORRIED SICK!" Inami scolded, holding me to her as though I was her lost child.

"I SHOULD JUST BITE YOUR HEAD OF FOR HIM!" Takara yelled – very unlike her; man, I really had scared everyone, hadn't I?—meaning, "if my brother were here, he'd be REALLY pissed off and totally wouldn't have let you get away with it." And I knew it was true…which didn't help at all.

Tomite held Crin first, whispering something in her ear that made her smile before he kissed her just under her ear before he turned to me. "So… Texas , huh? You could have been killed by a chainsaw murderer!" I rolled me eyes. They were SO much alike sometimes.

Sarin and Hikitsu just kind of stood in the background, waiting for things to calm down. "Well, she didn't get herself shot," I could hear Sarin muttering to Hikitsu who nodded.

"Hey guys," I started, but everyone was still talking to me all at once, "GUYS!" The room fell silent. "Thank you," I sighed, trying to detach myself from Inami's embrace. "I know what I did wasn't very smart,"

"You got that right," Takara mumbled. I ignored her and continued.

"But what I did was what I felt would benefit what we're trying to do more effectively. And I know most of you if not all of you don't agree with me, I must remind you that almost every single one of you promised to support me, just like I promised to support you. I'm sorry for what I did and for scaring the crap out of you, but frankly nothing can be done to change it. All we can do is move forward with our lives. And no, I won't be pulling something like this again. I don't think I could be away from you guys any longer. You guys are my family, practically." I smiled a small smile at them. The gazes of my warriors in particular tightened, but they didn't comment.

Tomite sighed and walked forward, placing his hand on my head and messing my hair up. "Just don't pull another stunt like that again; I don't think I can handle Crin's panic attacks anymore. I had to take her out for candy every time she started pacing by the phone." I couldn't help but laugh as Crin smacked him upside the head.

"YOU WEREN'T SUPPOSED TO TELL HER THAT!" She yelled, but her eyes gave away her embarrassed emotions. I started to giggle, surprising almost everyone except Crin in the room. It was so good to be home again.

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As soon as everything had calmed down, I excused myself and retreated to the master bedroom, plopping my suit case onto the bed before walking into the gigantic bathroom.

As soon as I walked into the bathroom, I sighed in contempt. It was such a nice bathroom…along the left wall was the granite counter tops with a large mirror running along it. In the center was the Jacuzzi bathtub – I was sooo looking forward to that!—and behind its ceramic wall was the two-way shower. My bare feet slapped against the tiled floor as I headed for the bathtub, my hands going to its gold handles and turning the hot water on.

I took my bath with the Jacuzzi on, enjoying the bubbles against my skin. I spent about a half an hour in there before I reluctantly got out, draining the wonderful hot water and throwing my robe on. I dried myself off and walked back into the master bedroom, trying not to think of who I would have been sharing it with, and flopped onto the kind size bed. I grabbed my pillow and breathed in the clean scent, enjoying the way it felt against my face. The mattress was so soft…The more I thought about how much I missed the comforts of home, the more I realized just how much I'd missed home.

There was suddenly a knock on the door. I stopped buying my face in the pillow and sat up reluctantly. "Who is it?" I asked, pulling my robe on tighter.

"It's me," Takara's voice drifted through the door, making me tense.

"Come in," I called, my voice a little strained. I hoped Takara didn't hear it. Takara opened the door and closed it softly behind her before slowly making her way over to the bed where she sat down, looking a little nervous. "How have you been, Takara?" I asked when she didn't say anything.

"Ok, I suppose." She answered in a small voice, not looking at me. I waited for her to elaborate, but she said nothing.

"How are you and Hikitsu?" I forced myself to ask. I saw her face brighten up instantly and her eyes go to her left ring finger where a diamond ring glittered back at me. I felt a pang in my chest, but I ignored it and tried to smile at her. "That's so wonderful, Takara! When are you two getting married?" Takara blushed as her eyes snapped to mine, worry shining in them.

"I'M SORRY TAKIKO!" She cried, "I knew that it might offend you, but I just…when he asked I just…"

I stared at her in utter surprise. What had brought all this on? Yea, it sparked bad memories, but I was still happy for her. What in the world had gotten into her? "Takara, you don't have to be sorry; I'm happy for you! You both love each other and you two deserve this." I paused for a moment, "But your brother would kill you, you do know that, right?" I couldn't help but smile to think of what Limdo would say to her engagement. It would probably involve some swearing.

Takara couldn't help but laugh either, but she still seemed troubled. "Come on, what's wrong?" I asked after a brief moment of silence. Takara looked back up at me, a blush on her face as she struggled for the right words. "It isn't going to offend me."

"Well," Takara started, "I just have to wonder if…it was my fault you left?" I blinked at her, unsure of what to say to that. No, she hadn't been the reason; I just wanted to be alone. But I couldn't deny the fact that every time I looked at her, I couldn't help but remember him. It wasn't her fault, but how could I explain that to her?

"No," I answered instead, "No, that wasn't the reason." Takara visibly relaxed, letting out a sigh of relief. "Don't tell me you were upset about that for the past two months?"

"Well yea," Takara admitted, seeming to get a little embarrassed again, "Hikitsu told me it wasn't the reason, but I wanted to hear it from you. I'm sorry to trouble you." She started to get up.

"No, you didn't trouble me at all." I assured her with a weak smile, "I was just getting ready to go to bed, anyways." Takara smiled back as she headed for the door.

"Goodnight Takiko," She called as she went out the door, shutting it firmly behind her.

I was silent for a moment, a small frown on my face. "Goodnight Takara."

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Tomite sat on the chair in the library, watching Crin pace back and forth. "What are you doing?" He asked after about ten minutes of watching her. Crin stopped and looked at him as if she just noticed he was here.

"Thinking." She replied.

Tomite was silent for a moment before he opened his arms, inviting her to come to him. "Think over here."

Crin paused for a moment as she decided and then practically flew into his arms, wrapping her arms around his neck. Tomite laughed as he kissed her forehead. "You are so silly sometimes, you know that?"

"Mmmhmm." Crin mumbled, burying her face into his chest.

Tomite was silent for a moment before he finally asked, "So what's up with you?"

"I told you, I'm thinking." Crin answered in a bored tone.

"Ok, what are you thinking?" Crin didn't answer for a moment, so Tomite started to kiss her neck. "Must I get it out of you?"

"Well if you insist…" Tomite sighed and stopped kissing her.

"Does nothing phase you?"

"Not really,"

Tomite held her for a little while longer. "When are we going to get married?"

"Um…I'm not so sure about that. If you haven't noticed some rather alarming things have been going on lately."

Tomite groaned. "I KNOW, but we originally agreed that we'd get married after school finished. It's been two months. And it's BECAUSE of the alarming situations that I want to tie myself to you."

"Tomite…I didn't know you were so desperate to get tied down."

Tomite couldn't help but chuckle. "I've been waiting for this forever, it seems. I'm ready to spend my life with you; all I'm waiting for is for your word."

"I want to get married, really I do. But I'd like to be able to have a certain person enjoy our ceremony instead of being a mopy lump in a corner." Tomite sighed.

"That does pose a problem." Suddenly the grandfather clock in the corner chimed. Midnight . "NO! I DON 'T WANNA GO!" Tomite yelled, "I HATE this living arrangement."

Crin laughed and kissed him gingerly on the lips. "Takiko would get the wrong idea if we slept in the same room together. I think it was because of that possibility she had us girls move out anyway." Tomite grumbled as Crin hopped off. "I LOOOVEEE YOU!" Crin cooed, throwing her arms around his neck.

Tomite kissed her again, "I love you too, darling."

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The next morning, I trotted down the white carpeted steps that led to the kitchen, inhaling the aroma of what smelled to be French toast. "Smells good!" I commented to Tomite who, as usual, was making the food.

Although Tomite didn't live here, he was almost always here. He left at midnight and came back before I woke up. At least, that's what I assumed. I let my thoughts trail off as I sat down at a plate full of food in my usual spot at the head of the long table. Takara and Hikitsu sat together in the middle, eating and talking quietly to themselves while Crin – who sat next to me—was busy saturating her French toast in syrup. I ate and watched her in amusement. "Are you really going to eat that?" I asked her, although I already knew the answer.

"Why waste good sugar?" Crin asked as she promptly stuffed a large, syrup drenched bite into her mouth.

We all ate in silence until we were interrupted by the doorbell. "I'll get it," I mumbled when no one made a move to get up. It WAS my house, so I guess it made sense for me to do so. I walked into the foyer, my bare feet slapping on the cold tile as I opened the door…

To find Mayra standing at my doorstep.

I paused there, unsure of what exactly to say. I hadn't seen her since I quit, and yet she had never made it official that I quit. We stared at each other for a few moments, both of us at a loss for words. Finally, Mayra smiled a little. "It's nice to see you again, Takiko."

I tried to smile back at her as I stepped aside. "Would you like to come in?" I asked. Mayra nodded and stepped inside. I closed the door behind her as her eyes observed the foyer.

"Nice place you have here." She commented. I nodded in thanks. Awkward silence.

I cleared my throat. "Crin is in the kitchen if that's who you're looking for." Mayra shook her head and my suspicions about her visit were confirmed.

"Takiko, I would like a word with you. Is there somewhere…" She paused and glanced at the kitchen door where Takara, Crin and Tomite were now peeking through. "Private?"

I reluctantly nodded, "We can go up here." I started up the slightly curved marble stairway and down the hallway, listening to the clicks of Mayra's heels against the marble. At the end of the hallway, next to the library, was the meeting room. We walked into it where I closed the door firmly behind me.

"We don't have to worry about anyone listening in; the walls are sound proof." Not even Crin can find a way in here, I mentally added. Mayra nodded and sat in one of the chairs stationed at the long table. At the far end of the room was a large window with a view of the ocean. I walked over there, gazing out on the ocean's surface, watching the sailboats sailing in the breeze.

"How have you been, Takiko?" Mayra reluctantly asked after I said nothing.

"Fine," I lied, hoping she wouldn't notice. She probably did.

"Um…is he…."

"No, he's not back yet." Mayra found out the next morning after I quit that he'd left, although she didn't know where to. We'd told her he was off fighting in a mini-war in Africa . She seemed to believe it; he was, after all, a 'body guard'. Not that body guards often fought mini wars in Africa , but I highly doubted Mayra knew that.

"I'm sorry," She whispered. She waited for me to comment, but I said nothing. Finally she sighed, "Look, I'm just going to get to the point. We want you back."

I turned around, "Mayra…"

"Before you say anything, I just want you to hear me out. I know you're going through a hard time; heck, everyone does. But that doesn't mean you should give up everything. I don't think he would want to hear that you gave up your job just because he wasn't around." She paused, allowing me to think. "You didn't have him before; what made you agree to this in the first place?"

I winced, remembering why. The boat ride…the song…the way he had commented on my voice with that sincere look…it was one of my happiest memories. "You do remember," Mayra started again as she watched my expressions, "Use that again until he comes back. Everyone misses you, not just me! Everyone wants you back. Do you know how many phone calls I get, asking when you're going to release a new album? At least fifteen a day! And then we have magazines questioning where you've been, all those rumors that I think you should put a stop to…"

"Wait," I interrupted my eyes wide, "Rumors? What rumors?" Mayra slapped a hand over her mouth, her eyes wide. She obviously hadn't meant to say that.

"Well," Mayra started, "It really is a silly rumor, Takiko and I can obviously tell its not true…"

"What do you mean?" I demanded, my voice raising to a higher, command-like voice. "Mayra, if you don't tell me, I'll go find out for myself and that will only make me even angrier than I would have been."

Mayra bit her small, lip-gloss coated lip as she considered the situation. "Oh," She finally said, "alright, if you insist. When you left two months ago, no one knew where you'd gone. So, they all kind of assumed…" Mayra paused, taking a deep breath, "that you were growing."

I stared at her, extremely confused. Growing? They thought I was 'growing'? What was that supposed to mean? I hadn't grown since I'd hit 5'2 at the age of fifteen, why would anyone think….

And then I knew. "Oh, they thought I was pregnant and left to have my baby secretly." I said before the statement really hit me. When it did, I was pissed. "THEY THOUGHT I WAS PREGNANT?!" I yelled, startling Mayra almost out of her chair.

"Well Takiko dear," Mayra started, pushing the rims of her glasses up, "It's been four months since he suddenly left, and two months ago you left without a word. In a pregnancy cycle, you should have started to grow. Not considerably, but there would have been a bump."

I slapped my hands onto my belly to emphasize my point. "NO 'BUMP' THERE!" Ok, sure it made sense, but if I had been pregnant _he_ would still be here…

I stopped short. "What about him?" I asked my voice dangerously low.

Mayra blinked her baby-blue eyes behind her glasses. "E-excuse me?" She asked nervously.

"What do they think happened to Limdo?" I growled again, wincing as I said his name. I still didn't like saying his name.

Mayra's expression froze in panic, her eyes wide, "Um…"

That was all I needed. I turned abruptly and stormed over to the window, fuming with anger. How could anyone think that he would leave me purposely? He wouldn't have left me, especially if I was pregnant. Not that I was, but still! "You don't think that, do you Mayra?" I questioned in a hard voice. Mayra's answer was absolute silence. "Oh no, Mayra! Not you too!" I whirled back around to face her guilty expression.

"When you look at the situation, Takiko, it's not all that improbable, especially if you'd been pregnant." Mayra paused, "Are you SURE you didn't get pregnant and abort?"

That did it. "ABORTION? YOU THINK I'D EVER RESORT TO ABORTION?" I screamed in disbelief, "THERE WOULD BE NO WAY THAT I WOULD EVER KILL HIS CHILD!" Mayra opened her mouth, but I interrupted, pointing at her firmly, "AND NO, I WAS NEVER, EVER PREGNANT! WE NEVER EVEN SLEPT IN THE SAME ROOM!" Ok, maybe for a few hours a few times, but we never did anything.

Mayra shook her head, "Takiko, I was just asking. I don't think you'd do something like that. And frankly, no one really knows Limdo, so we couldn't assume anything else but that." I turned back around with a irritated grunt as I tried to calm the raging anger.

I stood there in silence for a long time, feeling Mayra's eyes watching me. "Alright," I finally started, "I—"

Suddenly there was a loud crash from above and a loud "EEEP!" interrupted me. I turned around just in time to see Crin falling onto the table with a thud and Mayra shriek and fall over backwards on her chair. I stared for a moment before looking up to the ceiling. Air vent. Typical; of course she'd be able to fit in there.

Crin slid off the table, checking it for any marks. "Strong table," she commented as she sat in one of the now dust covered chairs, brushing the dirt off of her skirt. I wanted to point out that she didn't weigh very much, but then I decided against it.

"Crin…" Mayra started as she sat back up, strands of her blonde hair falling out of her bun and her glasses crooked, "Why were you up there? And are you alright?"

Crin looked at her and flashed her most innocent, blinding smile, "Oh…just looking for the candy man; Takiko told me he lived in the air vents!"

"I told you no such thing," I mumbled, but she ignored me. "She's fine," I assured Mayra, "She's Crin; of course she's physically fine." I paused, "Mentally, I don't know…"

"HEY!" Crin yelled, throwing a jolly rancher at me, which I dodged by ducking my head.

Mayra stared, unable to say a word. "Um…anyway, you were saying Takiko?"

I focused my attention back on Mayra. "Yes, well I've decided that I'm coming back…BUT!" I interrupted the joyous outburst that I was sure would come from Mayra, "It's just to show that those rumors are NOT true AND it's not going to be the same. I'm changing the way I did things."

"Why?" Mayra questioned.

"Because," I answered, "I can."

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I stood at the podium, looking out over the crowd of reporters and fans. "Um….good afternoon, thank you for attending at such short notice." I greeted into the microphone, my voice causing the crowd to fall into silence. "I called this conference for a few reasons," I started again.

"Miss Okuda," A reporter interrupted me, "The press would like to know where you've been the past few months?"

" Texas ," I answered simply, "and I did notice that the statement 'everything is bigger in Texas " was really quite true. Especially when I woke up one morning to find a giant roach on my counter." My statement caused chuckles from the audience, and I continued on. "My visit to Texas had nothing to do with the rumors of my disappearance; I am not pregnant, and I never was. My fiancée didn't leave me as the rumor claims him to have done. I just wanted that cleared up right now."

"Then where is he?" Another reporter asked.

"Africa; he's helping out in Africa ." I stated simply. There were murmurs in the audience, and I ignored it.

"But the main reason I called this conference," I started again, "Was to state that I am coming back to show biz." There were cheers from my fans and nods of approval from the reporters as they scribbled things down. "But," I began again, "It's going to be a little different. Life has changed for me in ways I never thought it would. Therefore, it seems fitting that my music would be a little different as well. I am very much a person who writes by her own inspiration, and right now my inspiration is the things that have been going on in my life. I will answer no further questions." I stepped away from the podium, turning away from the fired questions – reporters could never not ask a question—and headed down the steps and into the backstage to where Mayra and Crin were standing.

"Are you sure about this?" Mayra asked. I found it a little ironic that she was second guessing herself now, after she had gone through the trouble to pester me about it, but I said nothing about that.

Instead, I merely answered, "One can never truly be ready." Mayra hesitated and then shook her head, turning her heal and heading towards the door, obviously wanting me to follow her. I sighed and glanced at Crin who smiled a bit in reassurance. I smiled back a bit before squaring my shoulders and following after Mayra, who had started to list my now busy schedule.

Life had almost seemed to go back to normal.

Almost.

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**Ok, so heres the second chapter! YAY! OMC, I have such big plans for this story! Its going to be EPIC! I can't stress how good its going to be. I'll update as soon as possible; I'll still work on this, but I kinda want to work on my own stories a bit. I WOULD like to get myself published, you know. XD **

**How did you like it? I know there are probably some mistakes, but my editor has been grounded from her computer due to computer malfunctions blamed on her. So sorry if there are mistakes. **

**REVIEW! **

**READ REBORN BY ARI SORENO! **

**Love**

**Alice**


	3. Chapter 3

I sat at the end of the meeting room – the mess Crin had made the day before had been fixed up by a crew that I'd called in this morning—staring into the faces of my warriors…and Crin, who currently was singing, "La, la, la, la, la, la, la…." over and over again, not seeming to mind that pretty much everyone was casting her strange looks while Tomite only shook his head and sighed.

"Um," I muttered under my breath, "Okay…so anyways," I addressed the rest of the warriors who instantly focused their attention on me. "First of all, I'd like to formally introduce the newest member of our little group," I motioned Hatsui, who sat on the right side of me – Crin sat on the left—to stand up. Reluctantly, Hatsui did so, his eyes fixed on the table in front of us. "This is one of my warriors, Hatsui. Some of you know him from before, but those of you who don't I hope that you'll grow to be fast friends." I nodded my head at him and Hatsui immediately sank down into his chair, throwing me a grateful look.

"I've called Miaka," I continued on, "And she has all of her warriors assembled. Yui is already half-way done; apparently they seem to find her," lucky for her, I mentally noted bitterly; at least she didn't have to go to freaking Mexico to find just one of them! "We still need four more Byakko warriors to complete Byakko's little group…as for their priestess, I'm not exactly sure what to do about that. She's kind of a little old to be fighting against evil…I don't know what Byakko has planned for that, but I sure hope he has one because when the time comes, I'm leaving it all to him.

"But as for our warriors, we now have almost everyone," With the exception of my fiancée, I painfully noted mentally without giving that thought away on my expression—although it was obvious some of the warriors thought about it, "The only ones we need are going to be the hardest to get." I didn't need to say who it was; everyone's expressions told me they knew exactly who I was talking about. "Question is," I started, pulling out a sketch pad, "How do we find them?"

"Why do you have a sketch pad?" Hikitsu asked, leaning towards me as I started to write "Ideas" on top of the page.

"First of all, I couldn't find anything else," I admitted, making a few people snicker.

"You're one of the most well-known pop stars and you don't have note book paper? Isn't that sort of sad?" Crin asked amusement all over her face. I shot a glare at her.

"Fine then, you don't get to see the master plan!" I declared, pointing at her. Crin only seemed even more amused.

"I'm right here; I can hear it just fine!"

"LIES!"

"I wonder about you sometimes."

I rolled my eyes and turned back to everyone else. "Anyone have any ideas?"

"How about looking them up in the phone book?" Takara suggested. I shook my head.

"Not probable. First of all, I highly doubt Temdan is going to put his name and the location of his evil fortress in the phone book. And I don't think Hagus really cares to put his in there. Second…we don't know the last name of the warriors."

"We could always put them on America's Most Wanted," Tomite offered.

"Maybe," I agreed, putting it down in a bubble I'd drawn that branched out from a center bubble labeled, "Da Plan". "But we'd have to make up a bunch of random—and yet somewhat true—stuff about them. But even then it would be hard to find them."

"_We could Google earth them and try looking for suspicious looking buildings that look evil-layer-like."_ Namame, who was sitting on the table by my sketch pad suggested to me.

"Namame just suggested we Google earth them and try to find an evil-layer-like place and search there." I translated for everyone else before putting "Google Earth" in another bubble, "It's a good idea, but we should probably use that as a last resort. It might take a while to do that."

We continued on, all of us throwing out random suggestions and coming up with possibilities that might help with the quest to find all the warriors, but after an hour and a half of planning, we started to only get nowhere. "How about we leave a chocolate bar under a cardboard box supported by a stick, connect a string to the box, and when Hagus and his brother come to get the candy bar, we'll trap them with the box!" Crin cried happily, "BRILLIANT!"

"I think we're done for today," I sighed, closing the sketch book as I ran a hand through my hair in frustration, not bothering to put down that suggestion. "We'll figure something out soon enough." Everyone started to leave, and as Crin was getting up I pulled her back. "Can we talk?" I whispered to her. She blinked at me blankly before glancing at Tomite, who waited for her by the door and nodded at him. Tomite did nothing for a moment, but finally shrugged and shut the door firmly behind him.

"What's up?" Crin asked, sitting back down in her chair. I opened my mouth to ask her, but then I stopped. The more I thought about what I wanted to ask her, the more I felt ridiculously embarrassed about it. What if she laughed and refused? Or if she did say yes, what if she thought I was weak and useless when we started? Not that that was entirely true; I knew how to handle a Naginata and was very good at it…and technically I could use a gun, but anyone could do that and frankly my skills with it were probably pretty pathetic as well. But hand-to-hand combat? I probably was pathetic.

I'd demonstrated in the past I could smack someone pretty good, though.

"How are you?" I finally managed to blurt stupidly. Crin blinked at me before giving me a suspicious look.

"Fine…"

"That's good," I muttered.  
"Takiko whatever it is spit it out; you're sweating bullets." I was? I wondered faintly as I casually wiped my forehead. Yup, I was.

"Well you see," I started, not looking at her in the eye anymore, "I…uh…well…as demonstrated by our last encounter with…um…you know…"

"The enemy peeps?" Crin suggested for me.

"Yeah. Them. Not the creepy Mexicans, but the…"

"Takiko…I know. Continue."

"Well," Now was the hard part. "Well, um…well…WELL…."

"Takiko, enough with the 'wells'."

"I was wondering…"

"Yes?"

Man, I felt like I was confessing a murder here! At least I was acting like it…_oh, what the heck? What's the worst she's going to do, say no?_ I finally decided. "Crin," I looked back at her square in the eye –she was giving me an odd look, but I didn't care, "I was wondering if you'd teach me how to fight!"

Silence.

Crin stared at me for a while, her face blank before her lips twisted into a amused smile, "Well why didn't you say that in the first place? I've been waiting for you to ask me that for days now!"

"WHAT?" I cried, "Why?!"

Crin laughed, leaning back in her chair, "Don't think I didn't notice you spying on the skirmishes Sarin and I have been doing. I was just waiting for you to come out and ask for lessons." I sighed—I'd thought I'd been discrete. When we'd first moved in, Sarin and Crin asked to build a training area out in the gigantic backyard. As long as it didn't stand out, I'd told them, I'd be fine with it. So since it had been built, they'd practiced for a while. Sometimes it was fun to go out and watch them—their battles often got really heated and it distracted me from thinking about a certain someone.

"So…it's a yes?" I questioned slowly.

"Don't be silly," Crin laughed, patting me on the head – what was I, a little kid? "Of course it's a yes!"

I couldn't help but beam a large smile for her; the first one in a long time. Crin seemed just as surprised by it as I was to be giving it, but I didn't care. "THANK YOU CRIN!" Before I knew what I was doing, I flung my arms around her, almost knocking her out of her chair.

"I didn't think you would be this excited about it. You know that you're going to get pretty beat up right?" Crin grinned a mischievous smile, her eyes turning to a sunshine yellow, which I assumed to be excitement.

"I kind of figured. But what else is new?" I rolled my eyes.

Crin bounced in her seat, clapping her hands together. "When do you want to start? I mean, we probably will have to buy you some sparing pads and equipment if you want...but there is always the traditional way!" I stared at her as the words tumbled out of her mouth in a giant mush of words, all squished together.

"You never bought pads in the first place?" I asked questionably.

Crin shook her head, a huge grin on her face. "Nope!"

I blinked at her and then shook my head. I might as well just let Crin be Crin. "How about tomorrow evening at six? That should give us time to go buy some stuff. I'm afraid you might re-break my ribs if we do it the traditional way."

"Teehee!"

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"Crin," I started, my voice low, my eyes filled with the horror that I was starting to feel, "I look…ridiculous."

"No you don't!" Crin giggled, standing behind me in the training room, staring at my reflection in one of the walled mirrors.

"Crin, I'm a freaking marshmallow! I can't even turn my head to see you!" I growled.

"Well, at least red is one of your colors." I could only imagine myself shaking my head—I couldn't do it in reality, so why bother trying?

"How am I supposed to even be able to see you?" I demanded. I really was starting to hope this wasn't just some excuse for her to beat on someone…

Weren't we bestest buddies?

"Don't' worry about it, Takiko! By then you won't need it."

I shook my head, trying to push down my worries. I knew that I was going to get hurt…I didn't think she'd dress me up as a red marshmallow. "You at least locked the doors, right?"

"I think so."

"Oh, that's comforting."

"Get over it, silly!" She patted my shoulder and turned – I slowly turned to face her. She stifled a giggle, to which I only glared. What was I gonna do, humble her to death with a giant red marshmallow?

"Ready?" She grinned.

"Ready as I'll ever be," I replied, trying to ignore the fact that I looked like a marshmallow.

Crin suddenly became deadly serious as she took a few steps to the left. I tried to follow her as best as I could. "Let's start with the first thing everyone needs to know, and the most important thing since you'll be doing a lot of it. Falling. Slap the ground as hit, and roll. Like this." Crin demonstrated, falling and then gracefully recovering just as she'd instructed.

_Wow._ Was all I could think. I never knew that there was a certain way to fall. But then again, I guess that it pays to have had a fiancée who could just hover if he fell. I quickly pushed that thought away as I analyzed everything as Crin did another demonstration, memorizing her slap to the ground and roll before she got up.

But I wondered…could I get up in this marshmallow suit?

Guess I'd find out.

Crin got to her feet and held her hand out to me. "Here, you'll see better from this angle." I placed my hand in hers but realized to late what was coming. She pulled me forward and I found myself soaring gently over her hip. Too late did I remember to slap the ground. "You have to that earlier, before you hit the ground." She extended a hand again and I was hesitant to take it. This time she just pulled me back to my feet. "Now, again. Get it right this time"

Although I was still a little light-headed from being flung through the air, I found myself once again falling…but this time I made sure to slap the ground before my body hit the floor. "YES!" I cried as I rolled, "TAKE THAT, STUPID GROUND….ACK!" I took the chance to feel the sharp pain in my wrist. It was small, but enough to bother me. "Oh, boo. Never mind. I think I did something wrong." My voice was coated in disappointment as I tried to get up.

"You're off balance. Try it again, this time with your weight more evenly centered. We're not moving on till you get this right." Crin told me as she pulled me back up before immediately throwing me back to the ground.

Even weight, I chanted over and over again in my head as I slapped the ground and rolled, my eyes closed tight. I waited. Nothing. Slowly I opened my eyes to find Crin crouching down by my face, a small smile on her lips. "Congratulations," she commented, "You passed part one of many parts." Although I knew that she was probably hinting at the pain to come in the very near future, I still couldn't help but beam, and as she pulled me back onto my feet, I could swear that in the back of my mind 'Ode to Joy' was playing.

"I think we can move onto basic self defense. Here, grab my wrist." She stuck her wrist out in front of me. I looked at it and took hold of her wrist, even though I knew this was probably the part when the serious pain was coming.

In one swift movement Crin grabbed her hand that I had a hold of, pulled it back out of my grasp, jumped nimbly backwards, and then kicked me in the chest. This time when I fell I had the whole slapping the ground thing down.

I was suddenly very content to be a marshmallow. Even a red one.

As Crin pulled me up, I stared, dazed. "How do you do _that?_" I questioned and when Crin reached for my wrist again, I stopped her. "Slow motion, please, with an explanation."

Crin shrugged. "Well if you insist...First, make the hand on the arm that they grabbed into a fist. Then, you want to grab that fist with your other hand. Pull back as swiftly as you can with a jerking motion, like this. Next slide back with your arms up in fist then just do a front kick." Crin paused as though she were just remembering something. "Oh, we probably should go over the kicks."

"Probably," I agreed.

Crin suddenly flashed one of her blinding smiles. "Okay, kick me!"

I stared at her for a moment. "Crin," I started, "I can't seriously kick you. I'm a marshmallow. I can't move my legs."

Crin tapped her chin, a contemplated expression falling over her face. "Well, I guess if you're not going to get hurt we can take them off for now. You just have to promise not to trip while you're trying to kick, or get overenthusiastic."

"I'm not you, Crin; I don't really do the whole overenthusiastic thing."

"True."

I quickly – well, practically ripped the padding off, taking a deep breath. "Okay." I kicked. It wasn't a bad kick, really; it would have hurt a kid who didn't know the first thing about fighting – not that I'm that mean—but it was pretty sad compared to what Crin did.

"Ok, well that's a good start. But, you have no idea what you just did. You think a kick is just a kick, but it's not. Each kick has its own name, its own precise execution that you must learn and practice to reach the kick's full potential. The simplest of them all is a front kick. Just kick straight out to the front. Like so." Crin demonstrated. "Now you try,"

We continued for a long time. I didn't know how long, all I knew was that by the time we were finished, I'd only mastered a few moves and it was pitch black outside.

"Are you hurt?" Crin asked as I put the pads away in the closet.

"Probably, I just can't feel it right now." I admitted. "I'll probably feel it in the morning."

Crin grinned as we walked out of the training room. "Don't worry; you'll get used to it." She paused for a moment. "Kind of, at least."

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**So this chapter was mostly just setting things up for later in the story. Sorry for the long update and providing such a short chapter; I've been working on my own story a lot and I've been working on other stories too while trying to do homework.**

**But, hey, its here now, isn't it?**

**Did you like it? If anyone has questions, by the way, I will answer them!**

**Except the question, "when is Limdo comming back?" because...the answer is this; be patient and you'll see.**

**REVIEW!**

**READ ARI SORENO'S STORY, REBORN!**

**Alice**


	4. Chapter 4

"Tilt your chin up a little Takiko," The photographer called. I did what I was instructed to do, slightly tilting my chin up so that he could achieve whatever effect that he wanted. "Good, Takiko, good!" He called as he snapped more photos.

When the flashing momentarily stopped, my eyes drifted to Crin who stood on the sidelines, a large, amused grin on her face as she waited for her turn. _Help,_ I thought to her, keeping absolutely still in the pose.

Crin merely giggled and wiggled her fingers at me.

Crin and I were now shooting for the covers of our new albums; since I wanted a 'new look', I wore something that was a bit more rock-chick. I had ripped up blue jeans with a black tank top that had a guitar on it. My hair was styled so that it had the just-out-of-bed look, and they had put darker eye make up on me. I felt like someone new, someone I didn't really know; but then again, since he'd left me, I never did seem to know the new me.

"Okay Takiko, you can relax." The photographer called, "Crin, get up there; time for the billboard picture." Mayra had informed us last minute that they wanted us both on a billboard together…where thousands of people would pass by in their cars, gawking at us every time they drove down the street. Not exactly what I had in mind, but okay.

Crin skipped over to where I was. "Where do you want me?" She asked her voice sweet and charming. The photographer blinked at her for a moment before pointing at the floor beside me.

"Takiko, shift yourself so that you're diagonal and kind of facing Crin." The photographer ordered. He then started to situate us himself, and by the time he was done, Crin was resting her chin on one of my knees, and I ended up twirling a lock of my hair around my finger.

The camera flashed in our face about five billion times before the photographer finally set me free so that he could work on Crin. "Stay in the building, Takiko." Crin warned without moving her body an inch, her voice deadly serious. I turned around and rolled my eyes.

"I'm not going to go anywhere, calm down. I'm just going to get all this make up off and get back into my clothes." Sometimes I felt as though I was still being treated like a child, and yet at the same time I couldn't blame her. I always got into trouble whenever she was busy doing something. That had been how I'd gotten the broken rib in the first place. I smiled sheepishly as I walked into my dressing room, my assistants coming to my side instantly, leading me to the chair.

"Are you finished, Ms. Okuda?" one of them asked in her sweet voice.

"Yes," I answered, "Be careful please." I had been training with Crin for a few weeks. The first week had been torture; we'd gone through some intense work out and Crin sometimes seemed to be enjoying beating up on me. I wondered if she really was my best friend or if she was still holding some sort of grudge against me. But after the first week I started to figure things out quickly and it wasn't before long before even I was giving Crin a few bruises. But that only seemed to increase my own bruises. So my assistants had bumped a few sore bruises when they'd been putting on my makeup and dressing me. They probably thought that I was getting abused or something.

I closed my eyes and allowed them to gently take the makeup off before I got up and changed into my own white tank top and motorcycle jacket and black jeans. I pulled my hair back out of my face and into a pony tail before I turned, thanked my assistants, grabbed the book I'd brought and left the room.

When I got back to where all the large equipment was, Crin was still getting photographed in another one of her giant dresses. Wind blew through her black ringlets and she showed off a pose that was more like a super models than a rock stars.

I watched for a moment, the flashing of the camera going off repeatedly. Crin, who was much more used to the whole posing thing, looked completely natural with what she was doing. I sighed and started to head for an empty chair by the food table, my fingers flipping through the book in my hands.

The moment I reached the chair though, I heard someone to my left scream "WATCH OUT!" I whirled, expecting for me to be in some sort of trouble, and to my surprise found that in fact it wasn't. A few feet from me, a man stood, frozen to the ground as he looked up at the falling piece of camera equipment with wide eyes.

I don't know what came over me. One moment I was standing in front of my chair with my book open, the next I'd dropped the book and bolted to him, jumping at him with my hands outstretched towards him. "MOVE!" I yelled as I pushed both of us out of the way of the falling equipment just in time, both of us sprawling across the floor.

For a moment I stared up at the metal ceiling, my eyes wide as adrenaline coursed through my body, my breathing quick and irregular. _That…had been really close_, I realized in a daze. Before _he'd_ left me, I would have just stared in horror as everyone else had and let one of my warriors save the man. But now, I'd been the one to save him. I slowly looked over to where the man laid his eyes wide and staring at the ceiling, his skin pale. "Are you alright?" I asked, rolling carefully onto my side. I really hoped I hadn't re-injured my ribs, and after a moment of taking a few deep breaths, I determined that I hadn't and crawled up onto my knees and scooted over to where he still lay. Out of the corner of my eye I could see that everyone was running towards us, but I didn't pay any attention. My full attention was on the man…and the necklace that was burning against my chest.

He was a warrior.

The man flashed his electric blue eyes at me, his mouth hanging open in shock. "You saved my life," He whispered, his voice velvety soft.

"It really was nothing…" I started, before laying my hand on his chest, checking to make sure he hadn't broken anything. "Are you ok?" I repeated.

"I'm fine," He nodded, starting to sit up. It was then that everyone reached us, surrounding us with their worried expressions. They asked the same questions I had, rambled on about how lucky we were and other similar things like that. I ignored them; thinking of how I was going to get the both of us away now that everyone's attention was on us. I needed to talk to him about the mission and convince him to join us…

"HEY, MOVE OUT OF MY WAY OR I'LL THROW CANDY AT YOU!" I could hear Crin yell above the frantic chatter. A few moments later, Crin pushed herself through the crowd and into my line of vision. She spotted me the moment I spotted her and was immediately at my side, her hands starting for my ribs. I grabbed them and stopped her, blushing furiously.

"I'm fine. Nothing's broken. I already checked." I assured her, giving a side ways glance at the man who still stared at me. Crin gave me a suspicious look before lowering her hands.

"That had better be the case," She warned, "Are you ok?"

"Yes, I'm fine."

"Please, let's keep it that way; you always get into too much trouble for your own good." She rolled her eyes and stood up, turning around to face the crowd. "Alright, listen up!" She yelled, getting everyone's attention. "They're fine; clean up that mess," She pointed at the broken, mangled piece of camera equipment, "and if I hear or read about this incident anywhere in the media, I will personally hunt every one of you down and do unmentionable things to your mind!" the crowd around us gave Crin a questioning look as though they weren't sure they believed her, but nevertheless they turned and started to walk away, most of them now starting to fret over the broken camera, muttering how much money it had cost to get it.

"Unfortunately," The photographer told us, who had stayed behind, "We actually needed that to finish the shoot, so we'll have to excuse Crin and have her come back once we get new camera equipment." Crin nodded and turned, holding out her hand towards me. I grasped it and she pulled me up, waiting for the photographer to walk away.

Crin took the moment to turn on the man lying on the ground, her eyes flashing red, startling him for a moment. "You," she pointed accusingly, "What did you think you were doing under a falling piece of equipment?" she demanded. The man looked at her in clear surprise, his eyes wide with shock.

"Excuse me?" He asked.

"Crin," I stopped her, laying a hand on her shoulder. "Really, I'm fine. Besides, it's not like he planned to end up standing under falling camera equipment. It's probably not that much of a joyride to experience." Crin looked at me, her eyes steadily going back to her regular green. "Go get dressed," I placed a hand over where the necklace was hidden in my shirt; "I'll take it from here." Crin's eyes widened and she glanced down at the man, her eyes squinting.

"Yeah," she finally said after a moment, "I'll go do that. Please try not to get into any more trouble while I'm gone." With that, Crin turned and walked to the dressing room.

When she was gone, I turned back to look back down at the man who was now getting up. "She sure is protective," he commented, his eyes still a little wide.

"Yeah, she's just worried about me, that's all. Just like everyone else seems to be." I rolled my eyes, remembering the looks I'd sometimes catch my friends throwing me when they thought my back was turned.

"Oh yeah," He started, "I heard about…" He stopped a light blush on his cheeks. "Well, anyways," He extended a hand, changing the subject. "I'm Toroki; I develop the pictures once they're taken. Actually, I was about to go get the ones of you when the camera equipment fell."

"It's a pleasure to meet you," I smiled, taking his hand and shaking it, "I'm Takiko Okuda,"

"Oh I know," he interrupted, "I'm a big fan! I have all of your CD's. When I heard I got to develop your photos today, I was pretty happy! But I never dreamed of actually meeting you, much less you saving my life!"

"I know," I laughed, "Usually I'm the one who needs saving."

"I don't know about that anymore," He said again, "The magazines always made you out to be some sort of klutz, what with you always getting into some sort of trouble that got you landed into the hospital. But today…you were amazing! You knocked me out of the way with no problem! If there is anything I can ever do for you, please don't hesitate to ask me!"

"Actually that's what I wanted to talk to you about," I said, "could we go somewhere a little more private?" He looked at me strangely, but nodded nevertheless.

"Over here," He led me to a dark corner of the room, behind some racks of clothing. "What can I do to repay the debt?"

"Look," I'd started these conversations up again lately, what with finding warriors I'd never met before again, so I decided to just get right to it. "Do you have any special abilities that are beyond a little strange?"

Toroki stared at me blankly, his eyes now showing no emotion whatsoever. "What like X-Men or Superman?" He asked, a strangled laugh escaping his throat. "No, of course not."

He knew about his powers, I could tell. "You do have them," I stated plainly, careful to keep my voice low. "I also know that you're a Byakko warrior." Toroki's mouth dropped opening shock as he scrambled for the right words, but I beat him to it. "Look, I know it's a little weird that I know that." I reached into my shirt and pulled out the necklace that still glowed, reflecting his mark back at him. His eyes widened in amazement as he took it from me, delicately running his thumb over the glass and gold. "I'm the priestess of Genbu, and we still have one more mission to fulfill."

Toroki's eyes flashed up to mine, suspicion filled in them, "The priestess of Genbu is dead," He stated plainly, "Suzunno's father found a note stating that her father had…"

"Killed her?" I shook my head, "No, my father tried, but he failed. He did end up killing himself though," I flinched at the memory, but shoved it out of my mind quickly. "I made one last wish to be safe, and Genbu transported me to this era. But unfortunately, when he tried to bring my warriors to me, he accidently ended up opening the portal to our world, allowing for the villains of my time to come through to this world. Now I have to gather together all the priestesses and their warriors together for a final summoning; and I need your help."

Toroki stared at me for a long time, and a few times I saw his eyes flicker to the necklace. He looked back up at me. "All those times you were in the hospital…that wasn't just you being klutzy, am I correct?"

"Yes," I answered, "And there have been other times that no one knows about because I never went to the hospital." I clearly remembered the broken ribs that still hurt if I was too wild.

Toroki contemplated for a moment before looking at me squarely in the eye. "Alright," he said, "You saved my life; I'm going to dedicate mine to serving you."

Wow, that was fast, I thought. Usually they asked all these questions or had to think it over for a few days before they answered me. But Toroki answered me so quickly, and looking into his eyes now I could see the loyalty already in them, like a golden retriever. "Of course, I'd like some more questions answered in the future," He continued on, "But for now I am satisfied with just being there to protect you." I blinked at him; this certainly wasn't what I'd expected to hear from him.

"Alright, welcome to the club," I teased, reaching into my pocket to pull out my phone. "We should probably switch phone numbers…do you want my address?" His eyes lit up and he eagerly pulled his phone out.

"That's cool," He said, trying to keep his excitement from taking over. We switched phone numbers and addresses before I bid my goodbye and started towards the dressing room.

Crin walked out of the room a few moments before I reached her, her eyes serious. "Takiko, how did everything go?" She asked.

"Surprisingly it went well. It was like he was one of my own warriors; he accepted it so easily without hardly any questions…although he did say that he'd question me later. I'm sort of glad that he didn't oppose it too much, otherwise I would have had to try to beg and strategize ways to get him to say yes."

"Well you did save his life," Crin grumbled as they started to head out the door, "He owed you. If he'd refused, I would have kicked him in the face."

"I don't think that he needed my help," I told her, pulling my motorcycle jacket closer to my body before Crin opened the door. "He probably had some sort of power that could have helped him out."

"That's what really pisses me off," Crin complained, "He could have saved himself but did he? No, he waited until you had to put your life in danger to save his sorry butt! I'm sorry, but that's really irritating!"

"Well there were a bunch of people around," I reminded her as we walked down the stone steps towards my waiting motorcycle, "He probably didn't want to make his powers known to everyone."

"I don't really give a crap," Crin whirled around to glare at me, making me stop in my tracks. I stared at her blankly, my hands bunched in the pockets of my jacket. Huh, I had a card in there…forgot about that. "You don't seem to understand how hurt you could have been today…probably even killed! I don't like this guy; he put you in danger when he could have saved himself."

"And sparing with one another isn't dangerous, especially after I've broken a rib?" I asked a little amused although the situation wasn't all that funny.

"Takiko, do you seriously think that I'd actually put you in a life threatening situation?" Crin snapped, "No, I wouldn't. So no, I don't like this guy at all, and I actually think he has something for you, so watch out."

"Has something for me?" I laughed, "Calm down Crin, he's just a fan…"

"That may turn out to be the case, but I'm sorry; I just can't stand to lose my best friend because of another man's stupidity." Crin turned away angrily, sighing.

"Hey," I finally said after a moment of silence, "I'll be fine."

"You always say that and yet somehow you end up getting hurt…Limdo is going to be pissed when he finds out about all this. I may not kill this guy, but I can guarantee that he will have no problem with it."

I flinched at the mention of my fiancées name, but continued on, "That may be true, but this time I'm sure of it. Please don't be mad."

Crin's shoulders were tense for a long moment before she finally sighed, her body relaxing. "Okay," she finally agreed, "I'll try to calm down…" she then turned around, a devious smile on her face. "But I want candy."

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I stood alone, my eyes closed as I breathed slowly. The air was filled with a sweet, flower-like scent that made me slightly lightheaded. I'm ready, I thought. Ready for what, I didn't know, but all I knew was that I was ready.

"Takiko?" I could hear a door open and Crin's voice reached my ears, sounding genuinely happy. "Are you ready?"

"Yes," I whispered, taking another deep breath. My life was going to change from this moment on, I realized, butterflies fluttering in my stomach.

"Are you sure you're ready?" Crin giggled; I must look pretty funny right now, standing here alone with my eyes closed.

"I'm ready," I told her again, my voice more firm. I opened my eyes to find myself in a room filled with flowers of all different colors and sizes. The walls were lined with mirrors, reflecting about a thousand different me's back at me. I stared at myself blankly; I was in a stunningly beautiful white wedding dress, the train flowing down the back of the skirt and off of the platform that I stood on. My hair was up in curls, and I looked like a princess in white, especially with the tiara that crowned my head.

I was getting married.

Excitement flared up within me, and a large smile spreading across my face as I turned back to face Crin who held white roses towards me. "I'm very much ready." I'd waited so long to get married and now it was finally happening! I took the roses from her holding them out in front of me at the waist, the glittering diamond ring glittering up at me.

"Let's go meet the groom then," Crin giggled, turning around and heading out the door. I followed her out till we were standing in the room that would lead into the chapel, the chapel doors closed. I stood behind Crin, my maid of honor, who stood behind all of my other brides maids. I could only see the backs of their heads, but I assumed that they were all of my friends; Kay, Takara, Elie, and Inami. I smiled, giddy with happiness.

The double wooden doors opened finally as the wedding music started, and my maids walked gracefully into the room that was full of people, their faces turned towards us. I waited patiently for all of them to walk through, my eyes on Limdo, who had his back turned to me. Finally Crin walked through, the most graceful of all my brides' maids as she walked down the isle towards the stand where the others had lined up.

It was my turn.

I started forward, my eyes solely on Limdo's back. He looked tall and strong; his hands were clasped behind his back, his shoulders pulled back and straight. He'd cut his hair, I'd realized after I searched for the pony tail he always wore it in, and he'd gotten rid of his black highlights. Disappointment flowed in me for a moment; I really did like his hair. But then I started to become happy again. He could grow it back, I decided, he would, for me. And he could redo the highlights as well. It might take a while, but at least I'd have it back eventually. All that mattered now was that we were going to be together again, and this time for the rest of our lives.

I finally made it to the pulpit, an old looking priest smiling at me as my true love started to turn towards me…

My smile disappeared immediately.

The man that stood before me was not my true love. Toroki stood there, his blue eyes filled with love and adoration as he held out his hand towards me, waiting for me to take it. I stared at it like he'd suddenly grown an extra set of five fingers on that hand.

What in the world was going on?

I looked over to the bride's maids, trying to find Crin so that I could ask her what in the world was going on, but when I looked over there I saw no faces I recognized. These women smiled at me as though we'd been best friends for years now. Who were these women? I wondered franticly, I'd never even seen these women in my life, and I knew for a fact that I had no surviving relatives! If I did, I sure wasn't going to walk up to them and say that I was their great, great aunt or something; they'd put me in a nut house. But who were these people?

I looked at Crin, my eyes wide. Crin, who stood at the end of the line of unfamiliar women, smiled at me brightly. She was apparently in on whatever was going on. Couldn't she see that this man wasn't the man I was in love with, and that the women she was standing by were not any of our friends?

I turned and looked at the crowd, hoping to find some familiar faces. All I could see were the smiling faces of a bunch of unfamiliar people…

But then I saw Mayra and my old principle from high school, Alice. They smiled brightly at me, and Mayra was even crying happily about this, as though this had been what I wanted! But it was the man next to her that caught my attention. He was the only one in the entire room that didn't look happy to be there, although he tried to look so. Tomite. He was apparently in on this too, but unlike his fiancée, he didn't look happy about this.

I scanned the crowd for more of my warriors, but found none of them. I turned back to Toroki, who still smiled patiently at me, his hand still outstretched towards me. "Where's Limdo?" I asked my voice only loud enough for us to hear.

The moment I said Limdo's name, Toroki's smile vanished from his beautiful face and he dropped his hand. "Takiko, we've been through this before; I thought you were over him."

My mouth dropped open in shock. "How could I be over him? He's the man I love, the man I'm supposed to marry!" My voice was louder, and the music stopped, leaving my words to echo throughout the church. Out of the corner of my eye I could see everyone stop smiling.

Toroki, heartbroken, looked at me sadly. "Don't you remember?" He whispered, reaching out to caress my face. I flinched back away from him, causing more pain to ripple into his expression. Normally I would have felt bad for him, but he was suggesting that I wasn't in love with my real fiancée.

"All I remember is that I'm engaged to Roun Rimundo," I snapped, using Limdo's full formal name.

Toroki sighed, looking away from me for a moment. When he looked back, the look in his eyes made my heart stop. "Takiko, Limdo was killed in the final battle, and your warriors fell apart."

I could feel my heart crush in my chest as I processed his words. "N-no…" I whispered, "That isn't possible!" I turned to look back at Tomite, who too had a pained expression on his face. "Tell me it isn't true!" I demanded, not caring that I was shouting now.

Tomite could do nothing but look away.

I whirled to face Crin. "Crin, he's lying, isn't he?" Crin's eyes were wide; she too seemed to believe this. What was worse was that she looked like she was trying to sympathize with me because she too had lost her love.

"HE'S NOT DEAD!" I yelled, completely losing it as I whirled back to Toroki. In my hands I felt warm liquid run onto my hands. I yelped, dropping the bouquet of white roses to the floor. I looked down at my hands, my eyes wide as tears started to pour down my face. My hands were covered in dark red blood. I slowly looked down at the roses that lay on the floor. The white roses were no longer white; they too had been covered with blood, turning them into red roses. Blood had also splattered onto my dress when the flowers had hit the floor, staining the pure white dress…

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I woke up screaming into my pillow, tears flowing freely down my face. At first I didn't know where I was; my mind was still in the dream, standing at the pulpit with a man I didn't love, or really know. It took me a few moments to come back to reality, and as I did my screaming stopped, but I continued to cry.

Limdo wasn't dead, I tried to tell myself, my warriors are all fine and dandy, and I'm not engaged to anyone else. Although I was telling myself that and although my mind knew that it was true, my heart still felt ripped to shreds. The thought of the dream coming true scared me to death.

I lay there for a long moment, trying to get a hold of myself. By the time I slowly finished, my crying turning into mere sniffles, my pillow was wet with tears. Slowly, I rose till I was standing up, looking around at the empty room around me. I'd had nightmares before, but never had they been so vivid and never had Limdo been dead in them. Usually I was running in the darkness, my hands reaching out towards Limdo's fading form.

I'd freaked out before, but this was worse than anything I could have dreamed. I threw my legs over the bed, whipping the tears away furiously as I started for the door and headed down the hallway, my feet slapping against the soft white carpet. I reached the end of the hallway and stopped before a door, taking a few deep breaths. I had to have some sort of control or else I knew I'd get asked about the dream. That was one thing I didn't want to talk about; if I did, I was sure that I'd lose control again.

I took a deep breath, my hand reaching forward to grasp the knob tightly before I turned it and pushed it open.

The room was dark but warm. I could only see the faint outlines of the objects in the tidy room as I inched forward towards the bed. "Crin?" I whispered loudly, trying not to surprise her too much; she might throw a flaming pillow if I surprised her too badly.

It didn't take much to wake her up. Crin rolled over, her head rising to look at me. "Takiko?" She mumbled in surprise, her hand going to push her hair out of her face. "What are you doing here?"

I opened my mouth to say something, but my vocal cords froze when I tried. After a moment of trying to scramble for words, I finally asked, "Could we have a sleepover tonight?"

Crin stared at me for a moment before rolling over to look at the alarm clock by her bed, the bright neon letters reading three thirty AM. She rolled back over to look at me skeptically. "You want to have a sleepover at almost four in the morning?" She asked.

"Y-yeah…" I stuttered, realizing how stupid it must sound. I should go back to my room, I thought, but I knew that if I did that I wouldn't get any sleep. I didn't want to go back into that nightmare…

Crin stared at me for a long moment before she sighed and scooted over. "Come on," She told me. My face brightened a bit as I climbed into bed next to her, sliding under the covers and lying down on an extra pillow that was on her bed still.

"Thanks Crin," I mumbled, suddenly feeling exhausted.

"No problem," Crin yawned, "So do you want to watch Texas Chainsaw Massacre?"

I closed my eyes, allowing for sleep to envelop me. "No thank you Crin, maybe another time." Crin said something else, but by that time I was already about to fall into deep sleep, and her voice faded into the background.

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**I just have to say that the dream sequence of this chapter was REALLY creepy, I don't know about you. But I've had weirder dreams...anyhow. Sorry for the long update. You see, I've been working on my own story called, "Kissing Death"and I'm really close to finishing it up. So I've been distracted by that. But Ari and I made this awesome spoof video of FYGK (first seven books, since Ari hasn't read ahead as I have) and its amazing. It also got both of us in the mood to write Genbu Kaiden, so I've finally updated! Ari has gotten more inpiration from me, so those of you that read REBORN (IF YOU DON'T YOU'RE A LOSER AND NEED TO GO READ IT NOW!) she should be updating this weekend. OR I'LL KILL HER! :D TEEHEE!**

**In reply to Charmane's review; yes, there are many different self defence moves. You can look them up on youtube, or you can message Ari, since she actually got a lot further than I did in the class. I was pretty much just like, "Yeah....I'll stick with a gun or I'll just hit them with a bus/car..." But basically I don't want tto go into too much detail since that would take me forever and I'd get really bored writting it all out and probably stop updating for like a year, since I'd dread writting it. **

**Okay guys. I only got two reviews for last chapter. I know you've been reading it, so seriously, just REVIEW! It's not that hard. Look, if I don't start getting more reviews, these chapters aren't going to come out for a while. Comprende? **

**Ok, I'm done with my rant. :D**

**Love**

**Alice**

**REVIEW!**


	5. Chapter 5

I pushed the headphones over my ears, the quietly buzzing room fading into a low hum, hardly noticeable unless I concentrated on it. To my right in the room next to me, visible through a sound proof glass, was a band, concentrating on the music that I'd given them fifteen minutes ago.

"Are you ready Takiko?" A voice sounded through my headphones. My studio recorder.

I leaned towards the microphone and replied, "Ready,"

"Here we go then," the voice said again. As I waited for a few moments, I contemplated the last few days in my mind. Since the dream, I had no strange dreams, just my normal, regular dreams that I never remembered in the morning. Although I was a bit edgy around Toroki the first time he came over to ask me questions, it turned out alright and our friendship seemed to be fine after all. Crin and I had been working more on self defense every night, learning new moves and perfecting old ones. It was starting to get to a point where I didn't need the marshmallow suit anymore during practice.

The music that started to play in my ears interrupted my thoughts, and I too concentrated on my music.

(AN; you know the drill)

**The Call**

It started out as a feeling  
Which then grew into a hope  
Which then turned into a quiet thought  
Which then turned into a quiet word

And then that word grew louder and louder  
'Til it was a battle cry

I'll come back  
When you call me  
No need to say goodbye

Just because everything's changing  
Doesn't mean it's never  
Been this way before

All you can do is try to know  
Who your friends are  
As you head off to the war

Pick a star on the dark horizon  
And follow the light

You'll come back  
When it's over  
No need to say good bye

You'll come back  
When it's over  
No need to say good bye

Now we're back to the beginning  
It's just a feeling and no one knows yet  
But just because they can't feel it too  
Doesn't mean that you have to forget

Let your memories grow stronger and stronger  
'Til they're before your eyes

You'll come back  
When I call you  
No need to say good bye

You'll come back  
When I call you  
No need to say good bye

**Breathe**

I see your face in my mind as I drive away,  
Cause none of us thought it was gonna end that way.  
People are people,  
And sometimes we change our minds.  
But it's killing me to see you go after all this time.

Mmm mmm mmm  
Mmm mmm mmm mmm mmm  
Mmm mmm mmm  
Mmm mmm mmm mmm mmm

Music starts playin' like the end of a sad movie,  
It's the kinda ending you don't really wanna see.  
Cause it's tragedy and it'll only bring you down,  
Now I don't know what to be without you around.

And we know it's never simple,  
Never easy.  
Never a clean break, noone here to save me.  
You're the only thing I know like the back of my hand,  
And I can't,  
Breathe,  
Without you,  
But I have to,  
Breathe,  
Without you,  
But I have to.

Never wanted this, never wanna see you hurt.  
Every little bump in the road I tried to swerve.  
But people are people,  
And sometimes it doesn't work out,  
Nothing we say is gonna save us from the fall out.

And we know it's never simple,  
Never easy.  
Never a clean break, no one here to save me.  
You're the only thing I know like the back of my hand,  
And I can't,  
Breathe,  
Without you,  
But I have to,  
Breathe,  
Without you,  
But I have to.

It's two a.m.  
Feelin' like I just lost a friend.  
Hope you know it's not easy,  
Easy for me.  
It's two a.m.  
Feelin' like I just lost a friend.  
Hope you know this ain't easy,  
Easy for me.

And we know it's never simple,  
Never easy.  
Never a clean break, noone here to save me.

Ohhh

I can't,  
Breathe,  
Without you,  
But I have to,  
Breathe,  
Without you,  
But I have to.  
breathe,  
without you,  
but I have to.

**Rule the World**

You light the skies, up above me  
A star, so bright, you blind me, yeah  
Don't close your eyes  
Don't fade away, don't fade away-

Oh

Yeah you and me we can ride on a star  
If you stay with me  
We can rule the world-  
Yeah you and me we can light up the sky  
If you stay by my side  
We can rule the world-

If walls break down, I will comfort you  
If angels cry, oh I'll be there for you  
You've saved my soul  
Don't leave me now, don't leave me now

Oh

Yeah you and me we can ride on a star  
If you stay with me  
We can rule the world  
Yeah you and me, we can light up the sky  
If you stay by my side  
We can rule the world-

Ooooooooh

All the stars are coming out tonight  
They're lighting up the sky tonight  
For you, for you  
All the stars are coming out tonight  
They're lighting up the sky tonight  
For you, for you-

Ooooooooh

Yeah you and me we can ride on a star  
If you stay with me  
We can rule the world  
Yeah you and me, we can light up the sky  
If you stay by my side  
We can rule the world

All the stars are coming out tonight (oooooooh)  
They're lighting up the sky tonight  
For you, for you-  
All the stars are coming out tonight  
They're lighting up the sky tonight  
For you ,for you-

All the stars, are coming out tonight  
They're lighting up the sky tonight  
For you, for you-  
All the stars, are coming out tonight  
They're lighting up the sky tonight  
For you, for you-

**Stardust**

And now the purple dusk of twilight time  
Steals across the meadows of my heart  
High up in the sky the little stars climb  
Always reminding me that were apart

You wander down the lane and far away  
Leaving me a song that will not die  
Love is now the stardust of yesterday  
The music of the years gone by

Sometimes I wonder why I spend  
The lonely night dreaming of a song  
The melody haunts my reverie  
And I am once again with you  
When our love was new  
And each kiss an inspiration  
But that was long ago  
Now my consolation  
Is in the stardust of a song

Beside a garden wall  
When stars are bright  
You are in my arms  
The nightingale tells his fairy tale  
A paradise where roses bloom  
Though I dream in vain  
In my heart it will remain  
My stardust melody  
The memory of loves refrain

**Still Holding Out For You**

Never thought I'd be in this place  
It's someone elses life im living  
Wish I were living a lie  
The hardest part is when the bough breaks  
Falling down & then forgiving  
I'm choking on the words i didn't get to say  
& pray I get the chance one day

I still run  
I still swing open the door  
I still think you'll be there like before  
Doesn't anybody out there know to never come around  
some things a heart won't listen to I'm still holding out for you

I can hear ya smile in the dark  
I can even feel you breathing  
When the daylight chases the ghost  
I see your coat & I fall apart  
To those hints of you I'm clinging  
Nows when I need them most  
I should get up, dry my eyes & move ahead  
At least that's what he would have said

I still run  
I still swing open the door  
I still think you'll be there like before  
Doesn't anybody out there know to never come around  
some things a heart won't listen to I'm still holding out for you

Faithfully, I trace your name while you sleep  
It's the only true comfort I feel  
I still run  
I still swing open the door  
I still think you'll be there like before  
I still run  
I still swing open the door  
I still think you'll be there like before  
Doesn't everybody out there know to never come around  
Some things a heart won't listin to  
I'm still holding out for you  
Holding out for you

I finished the song, an evident frown on my face as I pulled the ear phones off my ears, not bothering to wait for my sound recorder's comments. I placed the headphones on the stand and headed out the door, walking into the gently humming recording room where my recorder and Mayra sat, looking at me with wide eyes. "Can I leave now?" I asked.

"But…don't you want to hear comments?" Mayra asked her eyes wide with surprise.

"Here, why don' I just say it for you? 'Oh, Takiko, you did a marvelous job! I can't wait to hear more songs from you, don't forget about your next concert or I'll kick you!'" I mimicked, grabbing my jacket. "Look, I appreciate it, but I really do have to go. Crin is supposed to be picking me up any moment now…"

"Takiko, I meant to tell you; she's going to be running late…" Mayra started as I walked out the door, shutting it in her face before I registered what she was saying. The moment I did, I sighed, my shoulders slumping. I'd left my motorcycle and my car at home because Crin had insisted that I ride with her. I sighed in defeat before shoving my hands in my pockets and walking out the glass doors.

Thankfully my recording session had been kept a secret this time, so I didn't have to fight my way through the crowd. I jogged down the stone steps, mentally wondering if I had money in my wallet for a cab…

"Takiko!" a familiar voice called out to my right. I spun my head that direction and found Toroki standing there waving at my by his silver Nisan Altima, a wide smile on his face. I felt my stomach clench a bit as my mind recalled the dream that he'd stared in, but I quickly brushed it off. Toroki was only a warrior who wanted to do his duty that was all!

At least that was what I was trying to assure myself.

"Crin asked me to come pick you up," Toroki informed me when I walked over to him to greet him. I gave him a skeptical look; Crin absolutely hated his guts. Toroki read the look on my face and chuckled, "Well, I actually offered to take you. She didn't agree to it at first, but then I pulled the 'what if this happens' card on her." He winked down at me, "Works every time."

I stared up at him for a moment before rolling my eyes. "Somehow I highly doubt that will work on Crin for very long." I informed him as I started towards the passenger seat.

We got into the car and Toroki started the engine and pulled away from the curb, driving back towards my mansion. For a long while we drove in a comfortable silence that I almost fell asleep in. After a while though, Toroki got up the nerve to say something. "So your fiancée," I mentally groaned; that had been the one question he hadn't asked me when he'd interrogated me. "Where is he really?"

I didn't answer for a long moment. "Six months ago, a week before my wedding, Genbu took him away from me, claiming that I wasn't allowed to get married for the reason both you and I know of."

"Oh," Toroki's voice was unreadable, and I wasn't sure if I wanted to read what was on his mind.

Finally I sighed and turned to him. "You've been asking the questions," I told him impatiently, "Now it's my turn."

Toroki cast a surprised look at me. "What would you like to know?"

"I want to know what your power is," I answered. Toroki looked at me for a moment before chuckling and turning his attention back to the road.

"I thought I'd told you; I'm a transporter. I can transport anything or anyone as long as where I'm going is a place I've been before."

"Really?" I asked, my interest perking considerably. "Then why didn't you transport yourself away from the falling piece of camera equipment?"

"Too many witnesses," He replied quickly, "but I had been about to when you suddenly showed up and pushed me out of the way. If you'd done that a split second later, you would have ended up transporting with me. And that would have been hard to hide from the media." I shuddered, picturing the headliners now; 'Pop Princess disappears in a Flash!'

As I processed the information he'd given to me, a thought struck my mind. "If you can transport things," I asked slowly, "couldn't you just transport us back to my house?"

Toroki burst out laughing, his fingers gripping on the wheel tightly. "Yes I could," he answered, "but I could end up hitting a car if I'm not careful."

"Please?" I pleaded, "I really just kind of want to go home now." Toroki hesitated for a moment before he finally gave in.

"Alright," He said, leaning forward in his seat a bit, "As long as you don't tell Crin." He added, flashing me a quick smile before turning his attention back to the road, his foot pressing harder on the accelerator. I leaned back in my seat, my hands grasping at the handles of the car as he sped towards the car in front of us.

Just as he was about to hit the car in front of us, a shinning bright light enveloped the car. I gasped as one moment the light surrounded us, and the next we were zooming down my empty street. Toroki slammed on the breaks and turned into my drive way, easing up the long pathway towards the garage and parked. He switched the engine off and plunged us into dead silence. "Are you ok?" he asked. Slowly I forced myself to stop staring at the empty space with wide eyes and turned to look at him. He was looking at me with those bright blue eyes, slightly leaning towards me.

"That was awesome," I told him breathlessly. It was almost as awesome as flying with…I stopped that thought cold. Instead I sighed and opened the door, stepping out of the car. "Thanks for the ride," I told him briefly as I shut the door and headed up the steps, my fingers quickly groping for the keys to the front door.

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That night I walked out into the almost pitch black backyard with the glowing volley ball; we'd tried to play black light volleyball, but unfortunately the black lights hadn't actually worked on the ball. So I'd gone back into the house and dumped liquid from glow sticks onto it. As soon as I walked out completely into the darkness, the ball and my hands glowed. Everyone, who had been talking in a group, turned to look at me with a funny expression.

"Your eminence," Hatsui stuttered, his eyes wide when he caught the look of my glowing hands, "You're glowing…"

I smiled at him softly, passing the ball to Crin who looked like she was going to crack up at any moment. "That's right, Hatsui; you see, I never told you, but secretly I'm a star. I glow at night!" I held out my hands to show him. Hatsui's eyes widened further.

That's when Crin burst out laughing and dropped the ball onto the grass. Takara's expression soured. "EW, now there's going to be grass stuck to the ball," She grumbled, picking it up slowly and holding it away from her body at arms length.

"Hey look, it was the best I could do!" I defended.

"You could strap firecrackers to it," Crin suggested after she was done laughing at my glowing hands.

"I don't think so," I told her, rolling my eyes. Crin giggled louder.

"At least you wouldn't be glowing like a 'star'." She laughed.

"Crin," I said, coming closer; my hands were still wet from the liquid. "You're my bestest buddy, I want a hug!" I held out my arms to her as I walked towards her, an evil grin on my face. Crin saw it coming and jerked away to hide behind Tomite.

"I don't want to be a star!" She yelled.

I stopped and smiled softly before turning to the others. "Ready to play some glow in the dark volleyball?" I asked, trying to put as much animation into my voice as possible. It was a party that I'd thrown especially for my warriors; I felt like they were starting to get a bit stressed about the whole situation that we were in. They had all been concentrating on finding warriors and coming up with ideas to get Hagus and his brother on our side. So I wanted to give them a night of fun, to get them to loosen up a bit. I'm sure Crin saw through me, as she always did, because she too seemed to be trying to get everyone into it.

We started to play, all of us passing the volley ball back and forth over the net, calling out to one another and smacking into each other. I smiled as my warriors laughed and had a good time…

Then a red light distracted me.

To the right side of the little court we'd made for ourselves, standing by the pool was Kay. She had her night camera on and was video tapping the event. "Hey guys, I'll be back later." I called as I stepped off the court and jogged over to Kay's side.

Kay paid no attention to me. She was working on some angle, slowly moving the camera across the court. I watched her for a moment and then put my finger on the power button and switched the camera off. "HEY!" Kay yelled, turning to me angrily, "What was that for?"

"I want to know if you have something," I told her bluntly, keeping my voice low. Kay looked at me with thick suspicion, her green eyes debating what my true reasoning was.

"What do you want?"

"I want to know if you have any videos of Limdo," It hurt to say his name, but I forced it out anyways as naturally as possible. I hoped I did a good job at hiding the pain.

Kay's eyes narrowed. "Are you sure you're alright?" She asked me, her voice now low as well. To my left I could see Crin eyeing us, as well as a few others but I ignored them. This was my choice.

"I'm fine. Do you have them?" I asked again, my voice more commanding.

"Yeah, I have some. Even some you two may not know about." She paused, "Are you sure you want all of it?"

"All of it," I assured her. She looked at me for a few more moments before she finally sighed and turned away, heading back towards the house.

"Follow me."

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I hugged my knees as I watched the first video. The videos, obviously, were out of order. This one was from when we were in Japan. The video wasn't edited at all, so it had very random things in it. At one point it caught Crin yelling, "I'M A BUTTERFLY!" in the background of what Tomite was saying, completely drowning him out.

But it wasn't everyone else that I was concentrating on. Limdo, I noticed, was usually shot from behind, because whenever he'd catch Kay filming him, he would scowl at the camera and shove his hand into it, yelling at her to turn it off.

And yet there were some good shots as well. Somehow Kay had snuck footage of us sitting together on the couch; our hands intertwined with one another's, our foreheads pressed together. Limdo would sometimes kiss me whenever there wasn't anything else to say.

The video ended abrupt ably, and for a moment I just sat there, my eyes staring at the blank screen. After a long moment of silence, I grabbed the next video off the stack and popped it into the VCR.

I just about died when the first image that came on screen was Limdo and I sitting by the lake. I watched as I sat down next to him—Kay was surprisingly close—and for a while we both just watched the stars shoot across the sky. I watched as I finally snuggled closer to him, my arm going across his chest ad hugging him close to me. A few fire flies flickered above our face, and finally Limdo sighed and rolled over to look at me. "Would you be willing to stay by my side forever, no matter what happens?" he asked me.

I couldn't see our expressions, but I could remember how confused I'd been. I should have seen it coming, and yet I didn't. "Of course I am, didn't you get the picture?" I replied, laughing a bit despite my confusion.

"You'll see." He told me. Suddenly he sat up and I hesitantly followed after him. He started to dig around in his pockets, and as he did so I started to ask many questions all at once.

"Limdo, what are you doing? I don't understand this at all! Why are we here? What have you been thinking about the past couple of days? I do not believe that it's some guy thing!"

"Close your eyes," He ordered. I sighed and although I couldn't see it on the video camera, I had closed them. I watched him as he pulled out the ring that I still wore on my finger, opening the box to reveal it. The moon shone down on it and it glittered at the camera. "Alright, now open them." I watched as I gasped. "Remember when I was late to arrive at the hospital?" He asked. I watched as I numbly nodded my head, unable to look away from the ring. "Takiko?" I watched as I looked up into his eyes, "Will you marry me?"

And that's when I burst out crying. I sat there, watching the rest of our engagement scene, feeling as though it was all so long ago that it happened, when in reality it was less than a year ago that he'd asked me. We should have been married by now. We should have been starting our own family. Why had Genbu decided to thrust all of that responsibility on me? Why had he taken Limdo away?

I sat there in the darkness of my room, leaning against the foot of my bed, tears pouring down my face as I watched the tape roll to a stop. I'd thought that I'd been ready to face the challenges ahead. I had been, as long as I'd been able to be by his side. But without him I couldn't bear to do it. It was an impossible task without him by my side.

I must have dosed off, because the next thing I knew I felt two arms wrap around me and pull me up onto the bed. I opened my eyes, disoriented. "Crin?" I mumbled. Crin was pulling the covers over me, looking thoughtful for a moment. "What are you doing here?"

"Putting you to bed silly," She answered, attempting to sound like her usual, bubbly self. But I could tell that she was thinking about something.

"What is it?" I asked. Crin's eyes darkened as she looked at me and I couldn't tell what color they were. Her lips turned into a thoughtful frown.

"Nothing's wrong exactly," She started, "I'm just curious as to how you're feeling. I watched part of that video that Kay gave to you."

"Oh," I mumbled, blushing a bit. Busted. "I'm…I don't know," I started, finally launching into the thoughts and concerns I'd been feeling for a while now. "I don't know what to think anymore. I watch this video, and all it shows is the blind happiness we had before he was taken. We thought we could be together, after all this time of waiting. We thought that we were free to do as we pleased. Genbu could have said something earlier but he didn't. I wonder if he purposely fooled us into thinking that. Now that I look back at my choices, I have to wonder why me? There are so many other girls who would gladly save this world, so many brave, magnificent women. Why me? I'm no brave person, and I'm definitely not you. I only did it in the first place because I learned to love the people of Bejia. I have no obligation to serve this world; there are people who do live to serve it. Why not them? Sometimes I wonder if I shouldn't have just let myself die back in 1942, either by a bomb or by my own father's hand. At least I would have had a better chance of being together with him forever. Now I'm not so sure. We don't even know if doing as Genbu pleases work! What if he decides to take everyone away when this is done? There are so many ways that this whole thing could blow up in our faces, and it scares me to death and makes me feel like this whole cause is for nothing sometimes. I'm at a loss."

Crin was silent for a very long time. For a moment I almost thought she'd fallen asleep during my long rant, but when I glanced at her I found her looking at me blankly. "Takiko,"

"Yes?"

"You. Are. An. Idiot." Well, that wasn't the response I'd wanted from her. But she continued on before I could protest. "Do you honestly believe that sitting back and just letting things happen will solve anything? Do you think that doing nothing will bring Limdo back? You were chosen for this because you can do it. You've done it before! Don't wallow in self pity; if you do you'll be what you said you are. Go do what I know you can do. If you don't well...I'll put it in simple terms. You equal dead, we equal dead, and Limdo equal dead."

It certainly wasn't the answer I'd been expecting, but it had put things into perspective for me. What was I doing, acting like all hope had been lost? Acting like that wouldn't get me anywhere, I realized. I had to keep doing what I was doing, to press forward no matter what happened.

I had to stay strong.

"Thanks Crin," I smiled at her, and then gave her a hug.

"Just try not to get all emo, alright?" Crin said, hugging me back.

"Oh…I think I can manage." Crin pulled away, giving me a skeptical look. "Because LOOK!" I sat up and pulled myself out from under the covers, pulling back the leg of my pajamas –when did I get into those?—to show her the fuzzy socks I wore. "I got a whole army of awesome socks!"

Crin stared at me blankly for a moment, unsure of what to say to the sudden change in my mood. "Socks," She mumbled, looking at them.

"Yeah, a few days ago I found this store downtown that is completely dedicated to selling socks, so I bought all of these awesome socks!"

Crin looked at my socks for a very long while before she finally turned to me and said, "We're going shopping tomorrow."

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**Sorry if this chapter seemed a little rushed; I was sort of trying to just get this done with sso that I could move on to more exciting chapters. Well, I think I'm done for the night. I'm horribly bored. **

**So, REVIEW!**

**Love,**

**Alice**

**REVIEW!**


	6. Chapter 6

A few weeks passed, mostly uneventful in terms of finding the celestial warriors. Crin and I mostly hung out with one another and discussed plans whenever she wasn't teaching me to fight—something that I had started to pick up much more easily as time went by. It wasn't long before I didn't need to wear those annoying pads to protect me.

Crin and I now, like usual, stood facing each other in my practice room, staring at each other intently. "Ready?" She asked, bending her knees a bit. I briefly noted the movement and crouched a bit myself.

"Naturally," The moment the word left my mouth, as expected she attacked instantly. The first time she'd asked if I was ready, I learned the hard way that you don't say you're ready till you actually are ready; otherwise Crin was going to knock you flat on your back.

Crin's foot, which had meant to collide with my abdomen, was blocked by my forearm, which I had quickly shoved in the way to keep from getting the nauseating blow to the stomach. Crin smirked as she pulled he foot back, and as she did I began to analyze not only my weakness, but any weakness that she may have received. I knew I wasn't as experienced, and that right there would be a good cause for weakness, but I didn't take long to notice just how small Crin was. In order to attack me, she'd have to get close enough to reach me.

I had the longer legs.

I immediately separated myself just as Crin seemed to realize the weakness at the same moment. Her grin grew wider as she came closer. I frowned as I kicked high, the blow barely scrapping her cheek. Crin stopped coming forward for a brief moment, just enough time for me to pull back and step back a bit. Crin didn't give up. She was determined to get close enough to attack me and I knew that eventually I'd end up backing into a wall.

As Crin came at me again, I delivered another kick to her shoulder. This time I hit, and I watched in mild satisfaction as Crin winced, but neither of us backed down. I expected her to pause for a brief moment as she'd done before, but as I was pulling my foot back, Crin lunged at me, her fist colliding with my abdomen.

I doubled over, a sickening, painful jolt going through my stomach and for a brief moment I wanted to throw up my dinner. I might have, too, if Crin hadn't taken that chance to suddenly take a round house kick and kick me right in the ribs, sending me flying onto my back, the air completely knocked out of me.

"I WIN!" I heard Crin cry in happiness, but her voice sounded very far away. I stared up at the ceiling, gasping for air and not receiving it. It felt like I would never get to breathe air again. "Takiko?" Crin asked, and I could hear her footsteps coming towards me. "Are you okay?" my view of the ceiling was replaced by Crin's hazel eyes. She was worried, I could tell. "Oh my gosh!" She cried in sudden alarm, "I KILLED TAKIKO!"

It was at that moment that I finally was able to get my breath back. "I'm," gasp, "not," gasp, "dead," GASP! Crin sighed with relief, but worry quickly flashed back into her eyes.

"Well, that's a good thing because I'd be really worried how I would explain your death to everyone else…" She responded, a small smile appearing back onto her lips. I somehow managed to roll my eyes.

"Admit it," gasp, "You'd miss me if I," gasp, "Died." I was getting better at breathing, even though she'd given me a good kick in the chest—man, she kicked really hard. "But it, uh, feels like you had fun," I put a hand over where it hurt most.

"I always have fun when I fight," Crin cheerfully informed me, "It's like dancing, but with a more satisfying ending." I sighed, deciding to let the subject drop.

"I think we're done for the night," I slowly turned myself onto my stomach, trying to lift myself up from off the ground.

Crin grabbed my elbow and helped me up to my knees. "Done for the night, but we're right back at this again tomorrow. You've got to learn to work around the ouches, because when the time comes for the real fight I doubt your opponent is going to let you have a break for tea and scones."

I started to climb to my feet on my own. "I like scones," I muttered to myself.

Crin shrugged her shoulders. "You won't like them so much after you've had your nose broken so badly that you can't taste anything except the blood running down the back of your throat." I glanced up at her in horror, which only made her smile grow bigger. "Well, it's true."

"Yeah," I muttered as I started to the door, "I think you're right; let's continue this tomorrow afternoon."

"I don't think scones are tasty anyways," Crin continued as she followed me, "I much prefer those little cakes…"

I shook my head as I stepped out into the cool, crisp air. "Okay Crin…sure Crin…"

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Kazuza stepped into the dark and yet professional looking office, silently shutting the door behind her and plunging the room into almost complete darkness. "Um," She started, taking a step towards the office desk at the end of the room. The giant chair had its back facing to her, and she had the image of the many movies she'd seen where the big boss always was like this whenever someone entered the room. "You wanted to see me Temdan?"

For a long moment there was silence and Kazuza couldn't help but wonder if maybe he'd fallen asleep. It would explain the darkened room…

Finally the big chair turned around and Kazuza was face to face with Temdan who stared at her though his spectacles. "I haven't heard of anymore of your schemes to mess with my son and his priestess," As usual, Temdan's voice was calm and collected, but Kazuza could hear the tone of irritation underneath it.

"I," Kazuza started, anger flaring within her, but finally she sighed in defeat. "No, we haven't. Truthfully, I'm afraid that, especially after the last incident, that somehow the celestial warriors will defeat us. Takiko has never struck back. It might…"

"It might nothing," Temdan interrupted, obviously annoyed by Kazuza's feeble excuses. "They can't defeat us."

Kazuza's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, "Why?"

Temdan grinned his all knowing grin and stood, his fingers drumming the table effortlessly. "In order to defeat all of us, they need every warrior. They can't have every warrior if we've got two of their warriors."

Kazuza frowned, "I know that we have Hagus, but who's the other…"

"You know that Hagus is a celestial warrior," Temdan started as he started to pace the room, "But he isn't the type to take orders. Mainly the only reason that we have him working for us is because we have his brother."

Kazuza's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "His brother?" She questioned, interest sparking in what Temdan was saying.

Temdan nodded, "Maybe it's better if I showed you," He turned and headed for the book case before motioning her over with his hand. Kazuza hesitated for a moment, wondering if this was a trick; Temdan was not one to trust, she knew that. She'd heard about his ruthless reputation. Those that were 'fired' from the company were never seen again, and Kazuza had her suspicions on what exactly had happened to them.

Nevertheless, she forced down her momentary fear and forced herself forward till she was by Temdan's side. "Before I show you this you must promise me that you won't be stupid and fall for the Genbu brat's tricks, because they know what they have to do to get Hagus to join them again."

Kazuza was a little offended that Temdan thought she was that stupid, but she said nothing in protest, only nodded her head obediently. Temdan observed her for a long moment with his black eyes before he finally sighed and reached up to pull a thick, red dictionary from the shelf.

As soon as the book left the shelf, the shelf itself pushed back with a CLICK and Temdan set the book on the desk before pushing the shelf back like he would any other door. Kazuza stood there with wide eyes; it really was like watching a movie! She'd never thought that people nowadays built secret passageways in their office buildings. But then again, apparently this was super top secret, so of course Temdan needed something nobody would expect. The…what had he called Takiko's little circle of friends? Oh, yes; the Genbu brats; they'd never expect him to have Hagus' brother hidden in a secret passageway.

Kazuza followed Temdan down the dimly lit hallway. Up ahead she could see the hallway open out to a spacious room, but there was no noise except for the air conditioning unit buzzing in the background.

When they walked into the spacious room, Kazuza finally had a clear picture of what exactly was in the room.

In the far corner of the room stood a young boy who looked like Hagus expect in child form. His black hair reached his chin and there was the mark of a warrior on his forehead. His piercing blue, unseeing eyes peered at them blankly. In front of him was a tray of half-eaten food. "This is Hagus' younger brother," Temdan informed Kazuza. "If this boy were to ever get loose and into the Genbu brat's hands, we would immediately lose Hagus' loyalty and the Genbu brats would have all of their warriors." Temdan turned to her, his expression murderously serious. "Do not ever let the location of this boy be known to anyone; otherwise the chances of our prosperity in this world will be destroyed."

Kazuza stared at the boy who stared back at her in awe as she nodded. She didn't know what the consequences of letting out this information were, but she was sure she didn't want to find out.

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I sat at the head of the table, massaging my sore ribs that still hurt from the night before as I waited for everyone to quiet down. As usual, Crin was at my right hand side with Tomite on the other side of her. Where _he_ normally would have sat if he'd been around, there sat Toroki looking at me with an odd, uncomfortable look in his eye. I did my best to ignore the uncomfortable feeling in the pit of my stomach and stood. "I was thinking last night," I started, feeling the attention of all of my warriors and the two Byakko warriors on me as she spoke. "We've been talking about how _we_ could find Temdan and his hide out," I left the chair and went to stand by the window. "What if we're looking at this the wrong way?"

"How else do we look at it?" Inami asked uncertainty in her voice. My dark brown eyes scanned the ocean in the distance, watching the sail boats float by effortlessly in the breeze. I took a deep sigh, preparing myself for all of the protest that my next statement would cause.

"What if instead of us going to them," I started, trying to put off the plan I'd come up with the night before as I'd laid in bed, "What if we let them come to us?"

This caused silence. I continued on. "This whole time we've been trying to figure out how we could find them, but what if our job is much simpler than that? What if we tricked them into a trap?"

"Anything we do would obviously look like a trap," Hikitsu interrupted, "Temdan will know the moment we try it that it's a trap."

"Exactly," I nodded, "But our target isn't Temdan," I slowly turned around, my eyes burning with intensity, "Our target would be Kazuza."

Silence. I could see by the look on Crin's face that she was starting to figure out what, exactly, I had in mind. "We set the trap, and I know Kazuza will fall for it. She's got a one way mind; she wants revenge, and she doesn't care if she runs into a trap to get it. She won't know that she's fallen into a trap till it's too late!"

"What are you thinking, Takiko?" Toroki asked suspiciously, "You know that she's out to kill you; instead of going for whatever trap we set, she'll go for you…"

"Exactly," I interrupted, "I'd be the trap."

There was silence for a brief moment before the entire room burst into rose, protesting voices.

"You can't do that, Takiko!" Takara was yelling.

"This is crazy," Tomite agreed.

And so on and so forth. Everyone was trying to convince me to stop with this "crazy plan" at the same time. But I stood firm. I knew what I had to do and that this is what needed to be done.

"If we don't do it, we'll never get the last two warriors!" I finally shouted over all of them. Instantly they went silent, and the only sound was my hard breathing against my sore ribs. "I want to get this done with so that we can finally move on with our lives. I want to get my chance to bring back my fiancée so that I can finally, after so long, finally marry him!"

The silence was so piercingly loud, that I couldn't help but hear the ringing in my ears. Finally, Toroki, the only one who hadn't seemed to calm down, stood and turned his back on us, walking out of the room. "Toroki…" Kay started to call after him, but I shook my head at her.

"Let him go," I said when the door had closed behind him. "Let him deal with it." I sat back down in my chair and leaned forward, resting my chin on my entwined fingers.

Finally Crin, who'd been silent and calm the entire time, sighed. "Do you have an idea?"

I looked at her and smiled; I could tell deep down that she didn't like the idea of me going alone into enemy territory, but I could tell that she knew that I was right. There was no other way, unless we wanted to be looking and fighting for the next few years.

"I think I got a brilliant plan."

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I stood at the sidelines as I waited for Jay Leno to announce me so that I could finally make my appearance on The Tonight Show. I'd appeared on it before, but unlike before, I was shaking in my stilettos. I concentrated on taking deep, steadying breaths; I needed to look natural.

At my side, Crin silently took my hand. We hadn't spoken much for the past few days. We hardly said a word during practice; both she and I knew that I might very well have to use the things she'd taught me to protect myself if something went wrong. Even Sarin had given me a few lessons on the use of fire arms.

"Please welcome Takiko Okuda!" Jay Leno's voice interrupted my thoughts and I took a deep breath, trying to swallow my nerves. Just before I let go of Crin's hand, she gave me a quick squeeze before releasing and letting me walk on stage.

The moment I appeared on stage, I plastered my usual, blinding smile to give the impression that nothing was bothering me. It was a smile that I'd gotten used to using in public, and yet now more than ever it was so hard to use it. My cheek muscles strained.

As I shook Jay Leno's hand and sat down, I took another deep, calming breath, trying to listen to what Jay Leno was talking to me about.

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Kazuza sat in her own apartment, lounging lazily on her black leather couch as she watched The Tonight Show. Any decent musician watched it in hopes of getting on it and she, unfortunately, had never received that chance. And she never would, especially because technically she was still supposed to be locked up in prison for what she did to Takiko.

Speaking of which, she thought irritably as she watched Jay leno speaking to his 'special guest', this is her freaking _second_ time getting on it! Takiko, as usual, looked like she always did. She had her black hair pulled back into a pony tail with curls falling down her back and she wore a cute light blue top with faded blue jeans and black stilettos. She smiled and talked with Jay Leno and laughed as though nothing bad had ever happened to her. Looking at her now, no one would ever suspect that she'd brutally murdered a man…even if he had been trying to kill her.

Kazuza snarled; she wished she'd been there. She would have killed her in a heart beat. These book characters were insane; they devoted themselves to some stuck up little teenage girl, even fell in love with her, while the others held poor little kids hostage. She sometimes wondered why she even hung out with them in the first place.

Finally Jay Leno opened up the lines to anyone who wanted to call in and ask questions. Kazuza briefly considered calling in, but then decided against it; what if she recognized her voice? She'd have the cops at her door within moments.

She listened as a few girls called in and asked Takiko what her favorite hobbies were or about her family. Takiko answered each of them with that same smile on her face.

Kazuza was actually getting sick of it and was reaching for the remote to turn the TV off when suddenly a caller caught her attention.

"Hey Takiko," the unfamiliar male voice said over the phone. It was quite calm, Kazuza couldn't help but feel like she should know the voice, but she couldn't place it, so instead she ignored the feeling and concentrated on what he was saying.

"Hi, who's this?" Takiko asked the smile still plastered on her face.

"This is Raymond and I have a few questions for you."

"Alright, go ahead." Takiko leaned forward towards the phone, ready to listen to what this man had to ask of her.

"We are all aware that in the past you've had a few assassination attempts,"

Takiko finally stopped smiling and became serious. "That's correct,"

"And you are aware that you're attacker escaped from prison at the beginning of the year, correct?"

"I'm aware,"

"Then what I would like to know is how you feel, knowing that she's out there somewhere looking for you, possibly trying to come up with another plan to assassinate you?"

Takiko was silent for a moment, staring blankly at the phone. Kazuza was now leaning forward, her body tense as she waited anxiously for her answer.

Suddenly a smile broke out on Takiko's face and she started to…well, Kazuza couldn't believe it, but she started to laugh. She laughed as though the man had told her some horribly hilarious joke. What was wrong with her? Was she on drugs? Kazuza wondered incredulously.

"I'm not concerned at all," Takiko finally answered, "In fact, I don't really care. I don't think she's got it in her to attack me again. She'd risk compromising her freedom for it, and I don't think she'd risk that."

The man then proceeded to thank her and hung up. Kazuza, on the other hand, was livid. So livid, in fact, that she'd jumped up from the couch, her hands clenched into fists. Not a threat? She wanted to scream. Just because she hadn't attacked her lately didn't mean she wasn't making plans…

Ok, she hadn't been, but still!

"One last caller," Jay Leno said and as he did so, another feminine voice came online.

"Hi Takiko this is Lisa,"

"Hi Lisa," Kazuza could have sworn that Takiko's smile was bigger and more confident than ever. She wanted to smack that smile off of Takiko's face…

"I was wondering where you like to shop," The girl asked her voice bright and chipper.

"Oh, well I usually go to North Star Mall every Saturday to buy clothes and other stuff. Sometimes I get a few albums."

The girl then continued to ask about the albums she bought, but Kazuza didn't listen to her. North Star, every Saturday…it kept running through her mind over and over again.

Kazuza silently sat back down, a plan forming in her mind. She'd show Takiko just how menacing she could be, even if it killed her, she thought as a malicious smile spread on her lips.

She'd show her.

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I sat in the passenger seat of my corvette, listening to Sarin as he played around with the tracking devices in the driver's seat. As he tapped on the key board to his lap top furiously, my eyes fixed upon the mall in front of me.

Don't worry about a thing Takiko." Crin was whispering into my ear from where she sat in the back seat with Tomite. Unlike Tomite, Crin was the only one who could fit back there without being squished. "We'll always be close behind you; I won't let them hurt you."

I nodded my head to show that I understood, but inside I was shaking. I was truthful when I said I wasn't afraid of Kazuza. She was a threat, but I wasn't afraid. The person I was most afraid of, however, was Temdan. I'd seen firsthand what he could and would do to his enemies.

And, besides his children, I was his greatest threat.

"Ok ready," Sarin finally announced, holding a pair of green studded earrings towards me. I took them from him and started to place them in my ears as he ran me through the plan. "Those earrings both have a tracking device in each of them, so if something happens to one of them, we can still use the the other to track you…but if something happens to both of them, you're screwed." Crin smacked him on the back of the head.

I merely rolled my eyes, "Thanks so much Sarin," I mumbled sarcastically.

"No prob," Sarin mumbled as he rubbed the back of his head. "Hey, you aren't allergic to stainless steel, right?"

"No,"

"Good girl. So, I'm going to take you in there and act as your bodyguard, since they know none of us would ever leave you unguarded. Then, Kay and Hatsui will make a scene and you'll tell me to go help, since you can't help but help others before yourself." He rolled his eyes, "That'll give them the perfect chance to kidnap you…if she even watched The Tonight Show,"

"Anyone with the ambition to become famous watches The Tonight Show," I reminded him; only Crin and I were sure she'd watch it while the others were skeptical.

"After you're kidnapped, we'll all go back to our cars where I will track your signal and follow you to the hide out."

I nodded to show I understood. Sarin glanced at me and sighed. "I can't believe I'm sacrificing a day of sleep for this crazy plan."

"Shut up Sarin," Crin snapped in her usual, happy-toned voice, "Just stick to the plan."

I turned around and flashed my weak smile. "See you soon, okay?" I told her, reaching out to gently tug on a ringlet. When I released it, it bounced in place before returning to its original position.

Crin giggled a bit before telling me how "silly" I was before I turned and got out of the car. I walked around the side of the car to go and stand by Sarin. "Ready?" He asked quietly. I took a deep, steadying breath before nodding.

"I'm ready,"

Sarin stared at me for a long time, looking for any sort of fear or hesitation in my expression. When he saw none, he sighed and turned away, leading the way to the mall entrance. "I have to admit," He mumbled mostly to himself, "You've got guts; maybe a little too much for your own good."

I smiled softly to myself as I followed silently behind him.

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"I love Great American Cookies," I announced to Sarin as I sat down on a bench on the upper floor, opening up the brown paper bag and reaching inside. My hand grabbed a chocolate chip cookie and I pulled it from the bag. I glanced up at Sarin who stood protectively over me, looking off into the crowd. "Wanna cookie?" I asked him, reaching into the bag to grab him one.

Sarin merely shook his head and continued to stare off into the crowd. I shrugged and continued to bite into the cookie; his loss.

We were silent for a long time, both of us listening to the dull roar of the crowds as they walked aimlessly around towards random stores.

Sarin and I had been there for about an hour, like planned. I visited a few stores like Macys and Hollister—poor Sarin had to give me an opinion of everything I'd tried on. After trying on a few outfits, I visited a CD store and searched for Music for a while before walking out and buying cookies. They had been the only thing I'd bought that whole day.

It was the only thing I needed to buy.

Just as I started to reach into the bag to pull out another cookie, it happened.

On the other side of the upper floor, I could hear a woman screaming for help. "HELP, MY LITTLE BROTHER'S UNCONCIOUS! I NEED A DOCTOR!" I glanced up at Sarin in alarm. Sarin, to my satisfaction, looked hesitant. I bit my lip and furrowed my eyebrows for an uncertain appearance before slowly motioning my head to tell him to help the still-screaming woman.

Sarin hesitated for a moment before motioning with his hand for me to stay where I was before he turned his back and left my side, walking briskly towards where the screaming was taking place.

I sighed and leaned back against the back of the bench, munching on my last cookie and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

And waited some more. Every second that passed seem to be like an eternity. What was taking them so long? I wondered impatiently as I munched my cookie silently, why hadn't they tried to kidnap me yet? Where they here? Had she really seen The Tonight Show? Had we planned all this for nothing?

Had I missed my chance to find my last two warriors and get another step closer to finding Limdo again?

Just as pain and the sense of failure started to overwhelm me, something round, cold and metallic shoved itself between my neck and my upper back. "If you don't want me to blow you away," A cold, unfamiliar male voice whispered to me, "I suggest you follow us." I slowly turned my head to look up and find two men in black trench coats standing there, not looking at me but at the crowd.

I gulped for the effect and kept the satisfaction from appearing on my facial expression. I faintly heard the screaming stop and watched as the man directly behind me winced. "Hurry up," He snapped, shoving the gun's point further into my back. I quickly glanced around; hoping no one else could see the gun from the angle he held it at. Thankfully, no one seemed to notice or care.

I looked back up at him, lifting my paper bag full of cookies. "Could I bring my cookies?"

The man said nothing for a moment and finally sighed. "Yeah, you can bring your cookies."

I turned around and got up from the bench. "Oh goodie," I replied as they turned and motioned me to follow them. I followed them without complaint, turning my head to glance over my shoulder for effect.

Everything was all working according to plan.

Hopefully it stayed that way.


	7. Chapter 7

Of all the evil hide outs Temdan could pick, he chose to hide out in an office building that resided on top of a cliff with a beautiful view of a lake. I sat on a comfortable chair, munching on one of my last two cookies as I looked out at the lake. I wonder how deep it is, I thought, taking another bite. Can you go swimming in it?

The car ride over here was, of course, uncomfortable, especially because both men sat on either side of me, dead silent and staring straight ahead.

At least they didn't cuff me this time.

As I was taking my last bite, the door to the--what I assumed to be--waiting room opened. I calmly turned to look at who, exactly, had just arrived.

Kazuza.

Oh joy, I thought sarcastically as I straightened up in my seat. "Sup, Kazuza?" I greeted normally, "You know, although I don't appreciate being kidnapped while shopping, I must say that the hospitality here has improved considerably since my last visit." I reached into my bag and pulled out the last sugar cookie and held it out to her. "Wanna cookie?"

Kazuza looked at me as though I'd told her that a dingo ate my baby. "Um, no thank you…"

"Loser," I shot as I popped the cookie into my mouth. "So what's up? Why the sudden kidnap?" Kazuza seemed to remember what she'd come up here to do because her expression suddenly hardened.

"You," She started, stepping forward and pointing at me accusingly.

"Yes, I know its me." I replied, a little amused by this. I think my amusement pissed her off more, because suddenly she pulled out a pistol and strode towards me, pointing it towards my head.

"This time I guarantee no one will be able to stop me from killing you!" Kazuza snapped.

"Is that really all you ever do?" I asked, swallowing the fear that had risen up in my throat. My aim wasn't to get myself killed; I wouldn't be of help to anyone if I died. "Seriously; you always hide behind a gun, just like everyone else. Come on, have some creativity." I leaned forward towards her, forcing myself to ignore the gun she still had pointed at me. "You want to talk? Alright; lets talk."

I stood, once again ignoring her protests and the gun. "I assume you watched The Tonight Show, correct?" I whirled to look at her, a grin appearing on my lips.

Kazuza lowered the gun a little bit, a perplexed look crossing her features. It really was too bad that she was evil; she wasn't all that bad looking. She could have had a bright future as a model or something. "How would…?"

I rolled my eyes. "You think I would have given out where I was going to shop today for no reason? Come on, I'm not that stupid."

"Then why…?"

"Because I knew you'd take the bait." Kazuza only looked confused. Man, she really was….how had Crin once described her? Oh yes; she really was a 'stupid head.' "Let me explain in plain terms for you; we needed to know where you guys were hiding out, so I came up with this plan, you see. I knew they'd have a question and answer section on The Tonight Show, so I had Hikitsu and Elie call in and question me. We purposely comented about you to make you angry and I purposely revealed the location of where I was going to 'shop' today."

"Why?" Kazuza asked, her eyes wide with anger and disbelief.

I smiled pleasantly and went over to the coffee table, reaching down to grab hold of some candy that rested in a crystal jar. "For a few reasons. I'll reveal them in due time, don't you worry Kazuza. What's important is that you fell for the trap, just as I knew you would." I smiled innocently at her as I unwrapped the candy, "Funny how once you get shot by someone, you suddenly know your attacker like the back of your hand."

Kazuza raised the gun again, fury replacing any other emotion. "NO!" she shouted, "I didn't fall for your trap, because I'll just kill you now! Then you won't be able to finish whatever you're plotting!"

"Uh huh, tell me how that works out for you." I shrugged, popping the candy into my mouth. Oh, cherry.

"Are you on crack?" Kazuza demanded angrily, "I'll seriously kill you!"

I turned to her and rolled my eyes. "Go ahead then," I tensed, my eyes watching her, waiting for her next moment.

Kazuza raised the gun a little more, and just as the muscles in her arm tightened, I dashed forward as fast as possible, my hand reaching out to grab the gun. As I shoved it down and away from me, Kazuza pulled the trigger out of reflex just before I pulled it out of her hand and tossed it out of the way. A split second later, my fist had connected with her jaw.

I didn't have much time left, I knew; someone would have heard that shot.

"Now, you're going to tell me something Kazuza." I grabbed Kazuza by the collar of her shirt and pulled her close to me. "Where is he?"

Kazuza's eyes widened, but she still tried to look confused. "Who's he?" She asked, her voice tight.

"You know very well who I'm talking about," I snapped irritably, not in the mood for playing games anymore. "I can see it in your eyes; where's Tegu?"

"Oh, so that's his name," Kazuza said, still avoiding the subject. I shook her angrily, about to throw another punch when suddenly the doors burst open and men with guns burst into the room.

"DROP HER NOW!" Crap, I thought. I shouldn't have thrown the gun away. I looked back at the now smiling Kazuza and scowled; I hadn't planned for this to happen at all.

Guess nothing goes according to plan.

At least, that's what I was thinking as suddenly one of the men cried out in pain and slumped to the floor.

Both Kazuza and I snapped our attention to the fallen men.

Behind him stood the always-smiling Crin, pulling her foot back from the kick she'd delivered to the man's head. "Teehee, I just love kicking people in the back of the head!" She cried happily just before she did another round house kick into the face of another man.

She was soon joined by Sarin who immediately covered her from behind, making sure that no one tried to make any sudden moves when she wasn't expecting it. Unlike Crin, Sarin merely shot the men using a gun with a silence on it so there wasn't a big BANG!

I could not only see more men comming to assist, but also the rest of my warriors as well, ready to join the battle.

Just as I was about to turn my attention back to Kazuza, her foot collided with my stomach. I doubled over, Wheeling to regain the air I'd lost.

Kazuza on the other hand casted no time. In a flash, she was on her feet and heading towards where I'd thrown the gun. "Oh no you don't!" I gasped, lunging out to grab her leg and force her back onto the floor.

She landed with a thud, her leg lashing out to collide with my face. I dodged, rolling and climbing back onto my feet as I too started to head for the gun on the other side of the room.

But unfortunetely, Kazuza had regained her footing and was about to try to collide her fist with my head. I swiftly ducked, Keeling the air whoosh over my head as her fist struck empty air.

I delivered a blow of my own to her wide open abdomen. She doubled over, making a satisfying choking sound. "Hurts, doesn't it?" I cooed, taking the chance to grab her collar and straighten her up, "thing is," I wound my fist back, "You hit like a girl," I allowed my fist to fly into her nose, feeling the satisfying crunch of bone cartalaige beneath my fingers. She cried out in pain and I released her. "Now, you're going to tell me where Tegu is or…" unexpectably Kazuza stopped crying out in pain and round house kicked me in the chest.

Like before, my ribs screamed out in protest as the air forcefully left my lungs. I gasped for air, and as I did, Kazuza's fist collided with my stomach again and i doubled over. I wanted to fight back, but every nerve was paralized with lack of air and pain. "You certainly talk big," Kazuza started as she headed for the gun, "But you don't have to worry; i'll end it quick." _Move!_ I screamed at myself mentally, _keep fighting! Don't stop! Don't die, not here, not now; not when you're so close to getting him back!_

As Kazuza leaned down to retrieve the gun, I forced my feet forward and threw myself at her, knocking both of us away from the gun.

We sprawled onto the carpeted floor, me landing on top of Kazuza. I didn't waste my chance. I pinned her to the floor, cocked my arm back, and started swinging. "I'M SO SICK OF YOUR CRAP!" _PUNCH, PUNCH_, "THIS IS FOR TRYING TO KILL MY FRIENDS!" _PUNCH_, "THIS IS FOR TRYING TO KILL MY FIANCEE!" _PUNCH,_ "THIS IS FOR TRYING AND ALMOST SUCCEEDING TO KILL ME_!" PUNCH, PUNCH_—hey, that one deserved two punches, "THIS IS FOR HUNTING ME DOWN AND KIDNAPING ME!" _PUNCH,_ "THIS IS FOR CRIN….SHE'LL KILL ME IF I DON'T ACKNOWLEDGE HER!" _PUNCH_ ("Teehee!" from Crin) "AND THIS IS FOR LIMDO; HE'D WANT TO DO THIS TOO!" _**PUNCH**_!

The final punch knocked her out. I huffed, anger still flashing through me as I peered at her bruised and bloody face. I somehow didn't think she'd ever look like model material ever again.

I was soon aware of Crin standing over me, peering down at the unconscious girl beneath me. "Pissed off, much?" Crin finally asked and I could tell that she was on the verge of laughing her head off. I have such messed up friends.

"Just a bit," I replied, finally forcing myself back to my feet and leaving Kazuza and Crin to go pick the gun up. Although the others weren't in here, I could still hear them battling in some other part of the building. "Thanks for all the lessons in self defense; I don't think if I thanked you properly for that." As I picked the gun up, Crin let out a furious giggle.

"Teehee, at least you mentioned me and gave her a good solid punch for me." I stood up straight and glanced at her skeptically.

"You sure get cheerful in battle,"

"TEEHEE, I **LOVE** KILLING PEOPLE!" I rolled my eyes and started for the door. "Did you get the information?" Crin asked, following me.

"Nope,"

"So…wait, how are you…?"

"I've still got the necklace," I reached up and fingered the necklace that I hardly ever noticed around my neck. "It should tell me where Tegu is."

"But what if we run into Hagus?" Crin asked, and her tone suggested that she thought I had once again lost my mind.

"We'll convince him to join our search for Tegu." I shrugged as I stepped over dead bodies and walked out of the room, "I hope I have enough bullets in this gun…"

"Are you nuts? Hagus would sooner kill you than join you! You know he thinks he's independent…"

"I know," I replied, "But we're going to have to deal." I turned a corner and started for the stair well. "You should probably go help the others; they might need you."

"They've got Sarin," Crin replied tiredly, "I need to make sure you don't get yourself killed."

I rolled my eyes as I started up the stairs. "Thanks so much Crin,"

"Teehee!"

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The building was much taller than I had originally planned. We spent a whole ten minutes climbing stairs—I teased Crin and told her we were going to have sexy legs after this—before finally the necklace responded. "Here; 23rd floor," I told Crin, opening the door, "Now all we have to do is keep searching this floor till…" I stopped in mid sentence.

This floor only had one hallway with one room at the end of it. Two guards stood on both sides of it, and a split second after I noticed them, they noticed me. They instantly reached for their guns, but I had already aimed and pulled the trigger twice. Both men dropped and I started to bolt into a sprint down the hallway. "Through here!" I yelled back at Crin.

"Right behind you," Crin's voice was close, confirming what she'd said.

When we reached the door, neither of us slowed down. Instead we both threw our weight against the door and broke it open, swinging wide with a BANG!

I quickly regained my footing and raised my gun at…Temdan.

Although I would never say it aloud, Temdan was the older version of Limdo, except that he had dark eyes and an evil look in his face. For a moment my heart skipped a beat and for the first time in a long time, a clear image of Limdo popped into my mind, but I quickly pushed it away, reminding myself that this was Temdan, and not him.

Temdan was clearly surprised to see me with a gun in my hand, even though I was sure that he'd heard about me killing Ziyi. But although he hadn't expected our rude arrival, he nevertheless reached for one of the drawers in the desk. I didn't know what was in the drawer, but I was sire it was nothing good. Without thinking, I aimed a few inches below his fingertips and shot, making him draw his hand back so fast, it was as though he'd been burned by fire. "Oh no you don't," I snapped, "Crin, why don't you show off your muscles and restrain him?"

"Teehee!" Crin giggled as she skipped over to where he was, grabbed both of his wrists and pulled them behind his back. A moment later, I heard the unmistakable sound of hand cuffs wrapping and clicking together over wrists.

"Where'd you get the cuffs?" I asked a little bewildered.

"Oh nowhere," Crin giggled. I shook my head and closed the door, locking it behind me before turning back to Temdan who now had an insane grin on his face.

"Nice to see you again, Takiko," Temdan greeted, chuckling to himself as though this whole thing was a big joke. "You've changed since the last time I had the pleasure to speak with you. I wonder; what does Limdo have to say about this change in personality?" I was silent, but my gaze narrowed in warning. Temdan started to laugh manically. "That's right, I heard about his little trip to 'Africa'. Tell me Takiko, because I so want to know; where did he _really_ go?"

"None of your business," I snapped, "I have business with you." I raised the gun and aimed for his forehead. "I know Tegu is somewhere very close by, so why don't you save us the trouble of killing you and just tell us?"

Temdan continued to laugh hysterically. "Don't tell me my oh-so-noble son left you? He did, didn't he! Oh…too funny…" I snapped. Before I could stop myself, I'd closed the distance between us and pressed the barrel of the gun up against his forehead.

"TELL. ME. **NOW**." I snarled.

Temdan merely snickered. "What are you going to do? Kill me? You can't do that; otherwise you'll never find him!" He was right and I knew it. But it wasn't like I could ask, 'please tell me where Tegu is,' because he obviously wasn't that type of person.

So instead I did the next thing I thought was necessary. I lowered my gun, watching a smile of victory cross Temdan's face. "Crin," I said, keeping my eyes on Temdan.

"Yes?" she answered her voice unsure and hesitant.

"Do you have a knife?"

"Yeah, but…"

"Cut his eye out."

"_What?"_ Crin looked completely shocked and finally the smile on Temdan's face vanished.

"Cut his eye out, just like I said." I repeated, perfectly calm.

"Are you nuts?" Crin hissed, but nevertheless she pulled a very sharp, hardcore dagger from her sleeve.

"No; just pissed off," I replied calmly again, "If you don't want to, I'd be happy to do it myself."

Crin blinked at me and sighed, grabbing firmly on Temdan's shoulder and pushing him down onto his knees.

Temdan was now visibly shaking, but whether it was from rage or fear, I couldn't tell nor did I care. "You're bluffing," He accused, "I know you aren't low enough to stoop to torture!"

I merely shrugged. "Do I look like I'm bluffing?" Crin proceeded to grab Temdan's hair and pull his head back, bringing the knife up to his eye. Crin glanced up at me for the ok, and I nodded to her.

Crin nodded and pressed the blade into the skin…

"No, no, please no!" I held up my hand and Crin stopped, but did not release pressure. "I'll tell you, I swear…"

I had to admit, I was surprised that Temdan was actually pleading for mercy. "You swear it?" I clarified.

"I swear it!" Temdan pleaded.

"And you understand that if you are either lying to us or leading us into a trap, your eye will be out of its socket before you have the chance to beg for another chance, correct?" Temdan stared at me, his eyes wide with anger, fury, shock and fear.

"Guess I was wrong to underestimate you," Temdan muttered, "I understand where you're coming from, but you must understand that, should you fail to escape or if you ever have the unfortunate luck of crossing my path again, I will personally make sure you die a very slow and painful death."

"Understood, although I don't think you're in the position to be making threats." I replied, nodding for Crin to take the knife away from his eye. When she did, I could see that her blade had actually made a small cut under her eye, which was now bleeding freely. "Show me," I ordered Temdan.

Temdan, still scowling, rolled his eyes. "I can't really 'show' you handcuffed like this," He started to complain.

"Crin…" I started, but Temdan had already started back-tracking.

"But I can direct you; go to the book shelf in the corner." I gave him a suspicious look, but said nothing as I made my way to the bookshelf. "Now there's one red book on that shelf; pull it off." Hesitantly, I reached up and grabbed the book and pulled it off the shelf.

The moment the book left the shelf, a loud CLICK! Sounded and the shelf pushed back a bit. I blinked at it incredulously and turned to Temdan. "Seriously? You have a secret passageway?"

Temdan merely scowled. "He's in there."

I nodded. "Crin, drag him with us."

Temdan looked even more outraged than before. "I'm not going in there!"

"I told you; if this is some sort of trick, you can say goodbye to your eye." I pushed the shelf all the way back, revealing a dimly lit hallway. I took a deep breath. "Let's go,"

As we started down the hallway, I couldn't help but wonder if this was all a trap. What would I walk into when I reached the end of the hallway? An empty room? A room full of guards ready to kill me?

As we approached the end of the hallway where it opened up into a large, spacious and yet depression looking room, I took a deep breath before viewing the contents of the room…

To find Tegu peering at me with his dark, wide eyes from the corner.

We stared at one another for a long moment before Tegu finally cleared his throat. "I-Is it really you, priestess?" His voice, like the last time he'd first spoken to me, sounded un-used and rough, like he was recovering from losing his voice.

I smiled and breathed out a sigh of relief, closing the distance between us and wrapping my arms tightly around him. "Yes, Tegu; it's me. I came back for you again."

Tegu, like before, was still the emotional little boy he had been. He threw his arms around my waist and started to sob uncontrollably into my shirt. "I knew you'd come back, I just knew it!" I stocked his long, greasy hair gently, soothing him as I'd done before.

"Tegu, can you run?" I asked, pulling away slightly to look down upon his tear-streaked face.

"Well they didn't tie me to a seat this time, so I think I can…I can at least move my legs." Tegu answered, reaching up to wipe away his tears.

"Yeah, get this Crin; their hospitality has improved since the last time we paid a visit!" I called back sarcastically.

"Sure Takiko," Crin answered, obviously worn out by all of this excitement.

I quickly flashed a smile at her and then turned my attention back to Tegu. "Now Tegu, do you see that woman over there?" I pointed to Crin who now gave me a suspicious glare; she _really_ wanted to get out of here.

Tegu looked where I was pointing and nodded. "This is Crin; she's not a warrior, but she'd not only my best, most trusted friend but also a priestess…she's before my time."

"Way to make me sound old," Crin complained but I ignored her.

"Does she usually dress like that?" Tegu asked reluctantly. I glanced back at Crin and noted she was still wearing the pink and white ruffled dress she'd been wearing in the car. Odd; she usually changed into her dragon-scale battle outfit before a fight with Temdan and his minions.

"Yes, but you get used to it. Now listen to me carefully Tegu; I want you to go with her and stay with her. Do whatever she says. She's going to get the others so we can blow this joint." And this time, I thought, I didn't mean literally.

"Now wait just a moment," Crin interrupted, sounding outraged as I'd expected her to be, "I'm not just going to leave you here with your fiancée's mental-case for a father!"

I shot her a stern glare. "Crin I know you don't want to leave me behind, but I've got to take care of this. Please Crin, I'll be fine; in fact I'll be right behind you. Just please let me handle this. Please get Tegu to safety. If you stayed behind and I took him, his safety wouldn't be so guaranteed. Please do this…for me?"

Crin opened her mouth, obviously wanting to chew me out for my stupid plans, but instead she sighed. "Fine, go ahead and get yourself killed, I don't care."

I rolled my eyes, not for a second believing her. "Sure Crin,"

"I mean it Takiko…hopefully I'll see you around. Let's go Tegu," Crin held out her and Tegu reluctantly left my side to take it. Once his hand was in hers, Crin firmly grasped it and started to pull him down the hallway without saying a word.

"Be careful Takiko!" Tegu called just before they left the secret passageway entirely, leaving me alone with Temdan.

We were silent for a long time, neither of is saying a word. Finally I sighed and walked over to him, aware of his ever watching eyes on me the entire time. I shoved my hand into one of the pockets of his suit coat and retrieved keys, to what I assumed to be his desk drawers. "Does that secret entryway automatically lock when you close it?" I asked, stepping away from him.

Temdan still had that stupid sly smirk on his face. "I never did get a chance to congratulate you on your engagement to my son; congratulations."

I rolled my eyes. "Thanks, but we don't need your approval. I'm going to take that as a yes, though." I stepped around him and started down the hallway.

"You're not going to just leave me here, are you?" Temdan suddenly asked, sounding outraged and afraid.

"Hope you told more than just Kazuza about this place; she's too stupid to look for you here." I called over my shoulder. Immediately I heard Temdan's footsteps following after me and I stopped, turning and pointing my gun at him. "Listen very carefully, Temdan; I now have no reason to keep you alive, nor do I have the patience to keep dealing with you. So if you take another step, I swear I'll blow your head off!" Temdan narrowed his black eyes at me, but nevertheless didn't take another step.

After a few moments I lowered the gun and turned and as I hurried down the hallway towards the door, I heard Temdan yell after me, "You'll be sorry for this, priestess! Mark my words!" I said nothing in reply as I pulled the book shelf/door back into place, hearing once again the audible CLICK!

As soon as the door was shut, I snatched the red book off the desk and replaced it on the shelf before I turned my attention back to the desk.

As I crossed behind the desk, I quickly took out the keys I'd stolen from Temdan and started to try each one out on the first drawer. Maybe, I reasoned with myself, maybe there were files that could be useful locked up in the drawers.

But as I stuck the first key into the slot, the door to the office burst open with a bang and about twenty guards rushed into the room, guns drawn.

"PUT THE GUN DOWN!" someone was yelling at me. I winced, the feeling of not only failure but humiliation and dread washing over me.

As I dropped the gun and put my hands up, I thought 'guess Temdan's going to get the revenge he wanted.' A split second later, one of the guards had pulled up behind me, grabbed me by the hair and slammed my head down on the desk before roughly grabbing my wrists and pulling them back, clasping the cold metal cuffs over them.


	8. Chapter 8

I watched in silence as the guards opened the secret door and called into the hallway. A split second later, Temdan appeared at the door, his eyes shinning with anticipation as the guards started to remove his handcuffs and asked him questions like, "Are you alright sir?" and, "Can I get you anything, sir?" It was actually sort of annoying; for a brief moment I felt bad that he had to endure these idiots all the time. But the feeling only lasted for a brief moment.

Once the handcuffs were off of him and Temdan had assured his guards that he was fine and only received a scratch—which had stopped bleeding—he turned his full attention on me.

My heart slammed against my ribs and I was so scared I was actually shaking, but I kept a straight face. Before I had been the one in control so I hadn't been so afraid of him, but now I knew I had a serious problem on my hands that would probably, most likely, cost me my life.

But I needed to remain brave; I would not give Temdan satisfaction by showing fear.

Before anyone could say anything, Temdan crossed the space between us, raised his hand and smacked me across the face…hard. I hadn't expected it of course, and ended up actually biting my lip, causing it to start to bleed freely into my mouth.

Before I could recover, Temdan firmly grasped my chin and forced me to look at him. "I told you I'd get revenge," he sneered, his eyes filled with anticipation and excitement.

I did my best to give him my most hate-filled glare. "I take back what I said about the hospitality thing; it sucks. I am _so_ not going to recommend you to anyone should you decide to open up a hotel service."

Temdan's expression turned to one of irritation. "We'll see if you'll be making smart remarks once I'm through with you…if you're still alive, that is." He released me and ordered on of the guards, "Go get the chopper ready."

The guard looked at his fellow guards nervously before replying, "But sir, the pilot reported that the engine didn't sound right; I wouldn't recommend…"

"Did I ask for your recommendation?" Temdan snapped, "Radio the pilot and tell him to get it started!"

The guard hesitantly radioed the pilot as Temdan motioned for the guard standing next to me to bring me along.

Although I was too terrified to go with Temdan, I did not resist as the guard started to push me forward. I knew that there was no way out unless by some miracle my warriors arrived in time to rescue me. Tegu might have been able to walk, but he was still too weak to run fast, regardless of what he claimed.

As we entered the hallway and headed for the stairway, the elevator door—which I hadn't noticed before—opened and out stumbled Kazuza, still battered and bleeding from our battle.

She stared at us silently as we walked by, but the moment our eyes met, Kazuza looked enraged. "Temdan!" She yelled, running up ahead and following behind him as we started to climb the stairwell up the last flight of stairs. "What do you think you're doing? Takiko's mine to kill!" wow, I couldn't help but think, I kinda feel like a wounded deer watching as two hungry wolves fight over who gets the first bite.

Temdan ignored her as he opened the door at the top of the stairs and revealed the roof with a chopper starting up, the blades slowly starting to slice the air faster and faster. "She's mine to kill, Temdan!" Kazuza continued, almost sounding like a whining child.

We reached the chopper door and Temdan stepped aside to let the guard put me in first, and as the guard lifted me into the chopper, Temdan turned and finally confronted her. "I told you quite plainly NOT to fall for one of their traps, and you did. Frankly, all you've shown me is your ability to fail. I no longer have any use for you." Before any of us could react, Temdan snatched the gun from the guard's Hollister and….

BANG, BANG!

It was so sudden that even I cried out in alarm, watching in horror as Kazuza stumbled back and sank to her knees.

Temdan didn't waste much time to watch her die. Instead, he turned his back and climbed into the now ready-for-take-off chopper and slammed the door. "Let's get going," Temdan ordered as though nothing had happened.

The pilot hesitantly grabbed hold of the controls, but did not take off. "Sir, I really must warn you that…"

"I don't care; we'll be fine." Temdan ordered instantly, "What's important is that we get out of here." The pilot hesitated again, but nevertheless started to take off.

As he was taking off, I was starting to quietly hyperventilate. Temdan really was a cold, heartless, ruthless man. How in the world had my loving, sweet and kind fiancée have come from a man like this? I couldn't picture either my fiancée or Takara sitting at dinner with him, going to family picnics or taking family pictures for an album with him. And now I was in his clutches. He was probably dead serious about the extremely slow death.

I _really _shouldn't have stayed behind.

About twenty feet up in the air, I could faintly hear someone yelling my name and after a moment I recognized the voice to be Crin's. "Ah," Temdan muttered, "Good thing we took off; the Genbu brats have just arrived. A little too late, however." He chuckled as the pilot guided the helicopter over the lake.

For a brief moment I fantasized about Crin using wind to bring the chopper back, but my fantasies were quickly squished; she couldn't do that. Well, she could, but she would end up killing us all. There was no way they could….

Then I remembered the earrings that were still in my ears. They could still track me, I realized, a wave of relief crashing over me. There was still hope…

It just depended on how long it took them to get wherever it was we were going.

Just then a high pitched whining sound interrupted my calculations. "I was afraid of this," The pilot muttered as the helicopter started to dip.

"What's going on?" Temdan demanded as the chopper took a second dip and the controls up front started to beep wildly.

"We're crashing," The pilot answered, "The engine is about to…" just then the sound of the engine stopped and the blades above sounded like they were going slower and slower…

Then we were falling uncontrollably towards the lake.

Temdan wasted no time in opening the door and jumping when we were close from the wild jerking of the helicopter. The pilot was out a split second afterwards, his door jerking closed just as Temdan's had.

I tried to grasp hold of the handle to my door, but because of my cuffed hands I couldn't reach for it in time…

Before I knew it, the helicopter slammed into the lake, water spilling into the helicopter fast as it quickly sank, proving that helicopters couldn't float, apparently. I tried to keep my head above water for as long as possible, taking big gulps of air and holding it when I could stay above it no longer.

Pretty soon I was surrounded by airless darkness. My eyes stung and the cold water stabbed at my skin like needles as I forced myself across the seat, pressing my foot up against the glass of my window and started to kick at it.

_I needed to get out of here. _

I kicked and kicked and kicked some more, and although I could hear the glass cracking, I was still realizing a couple of hopeless factors in all of this.

One; with every passing moment, the helicopter was sinking further into the lake.

Two; I was quickly running out of air.

As I kicked, I couldn't help but be reminded of that day on the boat with…oh, might as well think his name since I was going to die anyways—Limdo. I was drowning again and I couldn't help myself. But I knew this time Limdo wasn't there to save me.

I hadn't called for Limdo's help since the night I killed Ziyi and I didn't call now. What was the point? He couldn't hear me and he couldn't help me. My luck had finally….

The window finally broke.

Faster than I ever knew was possible, I swam out the window, using my feet to kick me forward and help me slide out of the window, I started to kick. I didn't know which way I was going, but I was kicking like crazy. My lungs burned and screamed for air, and as I struggled to break to surface I finally couldn't take it anymore.

I opened my mouth, all the air in my lungs escaping into the lake water as lake water rushed in, choking me as it did so.

This was it, I thought as I started to black out, this was how I died. I'm sorry Limdo; I couldn't finish the task given me. I'll never see you again…I've left you alone, abandoned you involuntarily. Just know I tried and that I love you….i wish I could have seen you once more…held your hand...

As I started to black out, my thoughts coming to a close, I could hear a feminine voice screaming my name in the distance…

Silence.

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**I know I haven't updated for a little while. I'm truly sorry for that. Actually, the last three chapters I've had down for a while, the problem was part of the first of the last three chapters was on my lap top (WHICH I GOT FOR CHRISTMAS, WOOT!) and I got grounded from my lap top for a week. **

**But the reason I didn't have these up sooner was because I was working on my novel....AND I FINISHED! **

**Yes, after I'm done editing I'm going to try to go publish. I'll keep you posted on that one. **

**So anyways, here we are. Will Takiko die? Man, that would suck if she did....maybe I should just kill her off for fun....**

**LOL! **

**I have some of the next chapter written up...frankly, I love the next chapter. Which can mean a few things if I love a chapter...**

**one; uber epic**

**two; uber uber epic**

**three; character death uber epic....for some odd reason I enjoy character death, don't ask me why. Ari says I'm a terrible person for it. Maybe I am. **

**four; uber uber uber epic. **

**I'm not sure how long the next chapter will be though. We'll see. **

**READ REBORN BY ARI!**

**REVIEW! **

**Love,**

**Alice**


	9. Chapter 9

**Meanwhile…**

Crin raced up the last flight of stairs, straining to pump her legs faster. Something was wrong, something was horribly wrong and she knew it. She didn't bother to check the office; she had a strong feeling it would be empty.

"Crin, slow down!" Tomite called. The others were a full flight down behind her, and Tomite had Tegu by the hand, dragging him along.

Crin ignored him. She loved him, but she needed to get to the roof; something was terribly wrong. She could hear the blades of a chopper getting further and further away…

She finally threw herself out of the final door and stumbled onto the roof as wind from the chopper blew against her body, kicking up dust into her face. Crin threw a hand up to cover her mouth and nose as she pushed herself forward.

It didn't take her long to notice the pool of blood at her feet. Panicking slightly, Crin whirled to find the source of it…

And found the body of a female lying face down on the ground.

" Takiko!" Crin cried as she rushed to the body's side, one hand going to its neck to find a pulse as the other pushed it onto its back…

Only to look at the lifeless face of Kazuza.

Crin jumped back, her hands bolting away from the cold, lifeless body just as the rest of the warriors burst through the door. "Crin!" Tomite shouted, going to her side instantly, "That…" he'd noticed the body and the blood and had gone stiff at her side. "Temdan did this, didn't he?" Both he and Crin knew that Takiko, even when pissed off, wouldn't go so far as to kill someone she didn't need to kill.

"Yeah," Crin muttered, looking up at the chopper that was steadily climbing higher.

"That man really doesn't care for his own people, does he?" Tomite hissed, obviously more than a little pissed about what was going on. "Takiko's in that chopper, isn't she?"

Crin nodded as she stood. "Yup," what could she do? Crin wondered. She couldn't use her powers on the chopper without killing everyone inside. She wasn't like Limdo or the other warriors. She could use fire, wind, earth and water, but she didn't control them. If she could have, she would have been able to use wind to bring the chopper down safely. But she wasn't Limdo—a fact she was glad was true.

That's when she remembered Takara, Limdo's younger sister. Her power was primarily to tell the future in pictures, and she was completely different from her elder, more out-going, stupid, love-sick brother, except for one aspect. She too could control wind.

How much, Crin didn't know. Crin knew it was a new found, more inherited talent, and she knew Takara needed more training with it, something her brother had been about to start on. But still…

Crin whirled to face the rest of the warriors. "Takiko is in the chopper and I don't have the power to bring it down safely. The only way to do that is to use wind, a wind that can be controlled." Crin's penetrating gaze locked on Takara who had been listening intently but as soon as their eyes met, her eyes widened in terror.

"M-me?" She stuttered, "Oh no, I couldn't do that! I can barely move paper balls in the direction I want, much less a chopper! I'd kill all of them."

Crin let out a frustrated sigh. The warriors could be so useless sometimes, as much as she knew they needed them.

She turned back to the chopper that was now about twenty feet up. She tried to think what to do next, but found that there could be nothing done. "TAKIKO!" Crin screamed up as loud as she could, as though that would fix anything. The chopper only pushed forward.

"Crin, she still had the tracking devices in the earrings; we can still track her." Sarin interrupted and his words calmed her slightly. Her mind started to work through calculations.

"We need to leave now," Crin concluded, "We don't know where they're taking her. Who knows how far and how long it will take…" Suddenly a whine interrupted what she'd been saying.

"Uh, Crin?" Tomite's voice was alarmingly tight and terrified and immediately Crin turned around just in time to see the chopper—which was now over the lake—dip once and a few seconds later, dip twice and then start to spin uncontrollably towards the lake.

"_**TAKIKO!"**_ Crin shrieked as she witnessed first what looked to be Temdan and then the pilot escape but Crin didn't see a feminine body jump before the chopper hit the water and quickly sank under water.

Just before the chopper sank fully underwater, and Crin had already thrown her leg of the side of the rail—planning to fly in after her—a bright, blinding white light flashed brilliantly from behind all of them, blinding Crin's vision for a moment.

As quick as it came, the light suddenly vanished.

Silence.

Hesitantly, Crin looked back over her shoulder and what…_who_ she saw almost made her fall off the railing with no wind support.

There, standing in the exact same outfit he'd been wearing before he'd been taken, stood Limdo, his piercing silver eyes darting to each one of the shocked speechless warriors till finally they locked on Crin. Wow, Crin thought, I probably look really weird right now…

His first words brought back reality for all of them. "Where is she?" They didn't need to ask who he was talking about. Instantly everyone around Crin burst into frantic explanations. No one thought to ask the question that had popped into their minds upon his arrival; what in the world was he doing here?

Instead they saved the questions for later and tried to tell him about the danger Takiko was in…all at the same time. But Limdo obviously wasn't getting the message, since his expression twisted into one of confusion.

Finally Crin rolled her eyes and yelled over everyone, _**"CHOPPER CRASH, IN LAKE, STUCK, NEEDS HELP!" **_

That certainly got the message across. Before anyone could even blink, Limdo had switched into female form and flew over all of their heads and over the railing.

"TAKIKO!" he yelled on the way down just before he hit the water.

Everyone fell silent as they watched, anxiously waiting for both of them to appear back up on surface.

After a moment, the shock of Limdo's arrival wore off and Crin cried out in anger and frustration as she swung her other leg over the railing. "What's wrong?" Tomite asked her, his voice worried and anxious.

"IT'S STUPID MAN! I GOTTA DO SOMETHING BEFORE HE MESSES EVERYTHING UP!" With that, Crin jumped, using wind to guide her softly to shore.

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Limdo dove into the lake where there'd been bubbles and ripples floating on the surface. _No, no, no, no, no, please help me find her!_ Limdo thought frantically over and over again in his mind as he swam deeper and deeper. It was so dark down here; he could hardly see anything!

No, please not now! Not after everything I went through to come back for her! This wasn't supposed to happen, I…

Then he saw her. His mind went blank with relief as he used wind to propel him faster to her, wrapping his strong arms around her waist and pulling her to him. His mouth immediately went to hers and breathed in, trying to give her air as he used wind to propel them back up to the surface.

There was no response from her.

Panic started to creep back into him as they emerged back to the surface, his wind drying both of them off as he guided them both to shore where Crin paced anxiously, her eyes wide with fear.

Limdo didn't pay Crin any attention. He kept remembering how she'd responded when she'd last almost drowned; was he too late?

Limdo landed and laid Takiko out, her hair windblown but dry. At least she wouldn't get hypothermia or some other sickness. **_"DO SOMETHING!"_** Crin was screeching over and over, making him panic even more.

**_"SHUT UP CRIN!"_** Limdo yelled before he cradled Takiko's head in his hands and crashed his mouth onto hers, forcing her lips apart with his tongue and blew just enough air into her lungs. He pulled away and pressed on her abdomen.

The slightest pressure caused her to immediately cough up the water she'd swallowed. Instantly Limdo turned her over so she wouldn't choke on the water. It's turned her back over, expecting to look into her chocolate brown eyes.

She was unconscious.

Limdo sighed and hung his head. "She's out cold," he told Crin who still stood over him. He suddenly felt extremely exhausted.

Crin kneeled down beside Limdo, but Limdo didn't pay any attention. "Could I see her?" Crin asked after a brief pause.

Limdo hesitated; the last thing he wanted to do was let go of her. But he figured Crin knew what she was doing, so he reluctantly handed her over.

The moment he did, Crin slung Takiko over her shoulder, got up and started to run away. "DON'T WORRY, TAKIKO! I'LL SAVE YOU FROM THE BAD MAN!"

Limdo stumbled to his feet and started to run after her. "Wait, what are you doing? What are you even talking about?" He caught up to her quickly, but his male form was slower than his female form. "CRIN, STOP!"

Crin finally whirled on him, her eyes flashing red. "Why? So you can hurt her again?" Crin snapped at him.

Limdo was stunned. "I know I hurt her but I didn't mean to! It wasn't my choice. But I fixed it quickly and…"

"Quickly?" Crin exploded, "You call over _six months_ quick?"

Limdo stared at her, completely confused. "Over _six months_?" He repeated, "I've only been gone for a few moments…"

"Oh, so you only endured a few _moments_ of heart ache?" Crin demanded, now extremely furious, "She's endured over _**six months**_ of it! You have no idea what she's gone through! And now you expect to waltz back and assume everything's the same! Well, it's not! She's _NOT _the same person; things _have_ changed, changes you'll have to ask her about yourself!" Crin scowled and pushed Takiko back into his arms. "Take her. If you love her, you'll accept it and work things out with her. Just know she did it to bring _**you**_ back."

Limdo didn't know what to say. Changes? He thought, what sort of changes? He held her closer to his chest, glancing down at her with worry. He had no idea…

"We're not in Tokyo anymore, are we?"

Crin scoffed. "No Dorothy, we're not in Tokyo anymore."

Limdo frowned. "So we're back in Los Angeles?"

"Yeah, and us girls have been living in the mansion while the guys have the apartment." Crin informed him as she turned her back. "I'm going to go get the car."

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Crin pulled Takiko's Corvette into the drive way as Tomite—who'd joined them just before they left—chattered in the front seat. "Yeah, so we've got Hatsui back and we just got Tegu back. We're waiting for Hagus to say something…"

"Tomite," Crin snapped, still irritated from whatever it was that was really bugging her, "Shut up."

Tomite shut up. Limdo leaned tiredly against the back of the seat, his long legs uncomfortable in the squished back seat. Still, he refused to let go of Takiko for more than one reason; first, he just wanted to hold her, second, he was afraid Crin might attempt to kidnap her again.

But he was exhausted. After the adrenaline from the excitement of saving Takiko from drowning, he began to finally feel the exhaustion from being in the world of the Gods. His body wasn't meant to be in a place like that, something he hadn't realized till he was out of their presence.

But he forced himself to scoot out of the back seat and carry Takiko up the stairs, into the house, up some more stairs, down the hallway and into their master bedroom. He hardly noticed the furniture that had been arranged in the house; the last time he'd been there the house had been completely empty, and although he wanted to see what they'd done to his house—partially because he was afraid Crin had made a candy room or something—he was too tired to look.

He put Takiko onto the bed, laying her head on the pillow and pulling the covers over her body. He sighed, leaning against the bed as another wave of exhaustion passed over him.

"You can't sleep in here," Crin snapped from the doorway. Limdo's gaze snapped to her. He hadn't noticed her standing there…man, he really _was _tired.

"It's my house and technically this is my room too…" Limdo started but Crin cut him off.

"You're an idiot. Takiko would practically go into hysterics if she woke up and you were right there. She'd either think she was delusional, or be so happy she'd have a heart attack and die. And we don't want Takiko to die now, do we?"

Limdo hesitated, but he knew she had a point. "You're right. I'll just go find a spare room…"

"Why don't you go with the boys?" Crin interrupted, and if Limdo didn't know any better, she was trying to get rid of him.

"Because, once again, its my house. I don't care if you're living here, but this is still my house. You can't kick me out of my own house, regardless of what you might think."

Crin rolled her eyes. "It could be arranged. Fine, go be stupid in a spare bedroom."

"What is your problem?" Limdo finally snapped.

Crin's gaze intensified. "I hate you," She stated.

"Yes, I understand that, but still!"

"I just hate you, that's all." Crin shrugged. "Now go get some rest. You look like crap. I'll keep watch over her." Limdo hesitated, not sure if he wanted to leave Takiko with Crin when she was like this. But what could he do? If he and Crin got into a fight right now, she'd definitely win.

"Yeah, see you later." Limdo mumbled as he left Takiko's side and passed Crin, throwing one cautious glance over his shoulder. Something had changed between Crin and Takiko, he could see that now. But what was it?

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**Ok, so I know Crin is acting kinda...well, she's acting like she's on crack, I know. But it shall be explained in the next chapter, which I shall get to work on right now! **

**REVIEW!**

**Love,**

**Alice**


	10. Chapter 10

I felt like I had a big fleece blanket wrapped around my brain, making it so that it was hard to think. _So sleepy,_ I thought, my eyebrows furrowing as I turned over. And yet every second I was slowly waking up, coming back to reality. The more I became more alert, the harder it became to fall back asleep. I was restless, random and yet important thoughts popping into my mind. _Need to record that new song…don't forget to take out the trash…make sure Crin doesn't fill the pool up with chocolate...don't stop breathing…_

Wait, don't stop breathing? What kind of concern was that?

Then I remembered everything. The trap, Kazuza, Temdan, Tegu, the crash, drowning…

I was dead.

Dead.

Dead.

Dead, dead, dead, dead!

My eyes flashed open, expecting to see…well, I wasn't sure what I expected to see. What I saw was my bedroom.

What in the world was going on? Was I dead? I briefly remembered the last time I'd died. I'd taken a trip back to a part of my past. Was this like that? Was I experiencing a part of my past?

I slowly turned over as I tried to think about what to do now…and came face to face with Crin. "GAAAH!" I shouted, almost falling off the bed. "You…you…you didn't…"

Crin, who had this blank expression on her face before, suddenly broke out into the same smile I remembered. "Slumber parties sure are eventful, aren't they? Teehee!" She giggled before continuing on with a more serious tone. "No, you aren't dead. I wouldn't have let you die."

I was still trying to get my bearings back. "I'm….not….dead?" I muttered, "Did you…."

"I…" Crin started, obviously reading what I was about to say, answered, "I'm not sure how to explain what happened. I don't even know myself."

Just after she'd said, "I'm not", I stopped listening. I concentrated more on the recollection of what I'd been dreaming about before I'd started to wake up…

"CRIN!" I shouted, bolting up in bed, surprising her.

"Really, Takiko; I don't know how to explain it to myself, I haven't gotten the answers yet…"

"No, no, no, no…not that. I had this….this vivid dream. It started with the chopper crash…I was in the water, trying to get out…I kept thinking about how I'd failed in my mission. I thought about how I'd failed to bring Limdo back and...you know, I've never called for his help since the night I killed Ziyi. I didn't call for him, but I still remember wishing to see him once more…and then….darkness. It surrounded me. I was cold, so cold…and then suddenly I was warm. I was secure. I thought surely I was dead, but the next thing I knew, I could feel his lips on mine…it was so vivid, even though I know that it isn't possible. You saved me, didn't you?" I turned my wide eyes on her to find her looking down at the mattress with the same blank expression. "What's wrong? You don't think I've gone completely insane, do you?" I questioned cautiously.

Crin shook her head and closed her eyes, not allowing me to read the emotion she was feeling in her eyes. "It's real, Takiko."

I blinked at her, my still foggy mind not allowing me to process what she was saying. "What are you talking about? My insanity is real? You really do think I'm insane?"

"Not today," Crin couldn't help but smile, but it quickly vanished. She took a deep, calming breath. "He's back, Takiko. I don't know how, all I know is the second the chopper hit the water, there was this blinding light and then…he was there. He saved you. He pulled you out and got you to cough out the water."

I stared at her, my mind going completely blank. "What….do you….mean?" I whispered, but I wasn't really aware I was saying the words. "You…he….how…?"

"I don't know, I told you. He hasn't said anything about it." Crin said again, slowly opening her eyes but keeping them fixed on the mattress.

"Where is he?" I demanded after a pause. My voice was now fierce and demanding. If he really was here….if he was really home….I wanted to see him. I wanted to hold him in my arms, feel his lips on mine…

"He's asleep. The world of the Gods isn't really a place for humans. He's pretty drained. I'm surprised that he even had the strength to rescue you, much less stand."

Before she'd finished the sentence, I'd jumped out of bed and was heading for the door. "Where are you going?" Crin demanded, and there was a hint of something in her voice that I couldn't quite detect.

"I'm going to go see him." I replied as I opened the door. The moment I said that, however, a gust of wind blowing from behind me slammed the door shut. When I tried to open it again, it wouldn't budge. I scowled and whirled on Crin. "What do you think you're doing?" I snapped, starting to get angered with her.

Crin was now glaring at me, but her eyes weren't red. "He's asleep, Takiko. I just told you, he's exhausted. Let him be; you can have your little love-dove reunion when he wakes up. But don't wake him up; he needs to get some rest." I glared back at her for a long time as her words sank in. She had a very good point, but I wished she didn't. All I wanted was to run from the room, track him down and jump into his arms.

I sighed and went back to the bed. "You're right," I grumbled irritably.

"I usually am," Crin giggled.

I sat there, looking around at my…soon to be _our_ room. I didn't care about what Genbu wanted; for once, I wanted to do what I wanted to. I was going to marry Limdo and do whatever I wanted. If Genbu wanted to kick me out, fine. Technically he was a fictional character anyways. He hadn't been made real like Limdo and the other warriors had. "I probably smell like crap," I mumbled to Crin.

"Yup,"

"Then I should probably go take a shower and do something productive while waiting, huh?"

"Probably," Crin answered. I stood and started to walk to my bathroom door. Just before walking into the bathroom, I stopped and turned back to Crin. "Are you ok?" I questioned cautiously.

Crin stared down at her lap, the same blank expression on her face. When I spoke, she nodded. "I'll be fine," she promised, "Just go make yourself smell good."

I smiled at her before turning back and walking into the bathroom.

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Hours later, I plucked at the keys of my grand piano, not really playing anything specific. I'd start a song but then I'd switch to another one after a few measures. Since I'd woken up, I'd taken a long, hot shower; blow dried and styled my hair into soft curls. When I got done with that, I decided to go downstairs where I was questioned by pretty much everyone –except Toroki, who hadn't been on the little 'trip' with us and had obviously heard about Limdo's return and now sat on the couch, skulking—questioned me about Limdo's return. I assured them I didn't know anything about it and that I was just as anxious –if not more so—to hear about it.

I then proceeded to watch TV. I quickly got bored of that, so I tried a movie, which also didn't work. I then played Kay on Guitar Hero for a while, but I soon wasn't in the mood for that either.

Tomite, bless his soul, tried to make my favorite foods for me to keep my mind occupied. I ate it, but I didn't taste it. All I could think about was, once again, Limdo and when he'd wake up.

How long did he have to sleep? I wondered as I changed the song again, he never slept this much. Was he sick? Or…was he even still there?

I started to become depressed. Maybe I should have checked on him, made sure that Genbu hadn't taken him away the moment I decided to defy his wishes.

"Are you crying?" A familiar feminine voice asked, filled with surprise. "I thought you'd be happy about him coming home." I looked up into the green eyes of Crin. I hadn't noticed her come in, and I quickly noticed that I had also stopped playing the piano. I scooted over, giving her room to sit down next to me.

"I am…I was just thinking that….I was kind of worried that maybe…." I started, but Crin interrupted me as she sat down.

"He's still there, I promise. I checked." She smiled weakly and patted my shoulder. "Play something for me." She ordered after a moment.

I was silent for a moment, staring at the white ivory keys. "Ok," I whispered, putting my fingers on the keys again and starting to play.

For a long time, Crin only listened, saying nothing. As I started to get to the climax of the song, Crin asked, "This isn't going to do anything to our friendship, is it?" I stopped playing and looked at her with surprised, wide eyes.

"Limdo's return?" I questioned. Crin hesitated, but nodded, a small blush rising on my cheeks. "What do you mean, Crin?"

It was obvious that Crin never usually talked about her deep feelings like this, because it took her a long time to finally get started. "Well, I'm glad that he came back, because it's obvious that you two can't survive without each other. I was surprised you made it so long without him. I don't think he could have done that. But either way, it's just that…you and I became pretty close friends. And you know that once you get married, I can't stick by your side all of the time. You're going to devote yourself to him and him to you, and…"

"You feel left out," I clarified, finishing up her thought for her. Crin hesitated and then nodded, confirming it. I stared at her, in complete disbelief. "Crin, just because I'm getting married doesn't mean that I'd ever replace you. Yes, I love Limdo with all of my heart. But you're my best friend. No boy could ever touch my love for you. I don't know about you, but I plan for us to stay extremely close to you and Tomite. Tomite is Limdo's best friend anyways." I chuckled, "I don't know how you're going to handle that, because you know that they'll want to do things together. But you and I can have a slumber party while they're doing their manly stuff." I winked at her and Crin instantly brightened.

"Yay for slumber parties!" Crin giggled, obviously having gotten over the 'left out' thing. "But just letting you know, I might actually kidnap you just for fun, ok?"

I rolled my eyes but I couldn't help but smile at her. I was about to reply _"Sure Crin, we'll see about that,"_ But another extremely familiar voice interrupted her. "And I'll be right there to rescue her."

The moment I heard his voice, I tried to do two things at once; I bolted up from the piano bench and at the same time I tried to run forward. I hardly got glimpse of him as my foot caught around one of the legs off the bench, sending me sprawling towards the floor. I'd been trying to say Limdo's name, but I ended up making it sound like, ""LIM-DAAAAH!" as I fell.

Before I hit the ground—as I was sure I would—two strong arms grabbed me and gently lowered me and pulled me into the owner's lap.

Limdo.

At first I was horribly embarrassed that I'd been so klutzy. I hadn't done something as stupid as tripping for a long time, and the embarrassment was strengthened by the fact that I'd done it right in front of Limdo. But I quickly squashed the feeble feelings and hoping that I was no longer blushing, I looking up into Limdo's face.

He looked the same as I remembered him. His piercing silver eyes bore into mine, his lips were partly open from the mad dash he'd taken to keep me from hitting the floor, and his brown and black hair slightly covered his eyes. But his expression is what really made me melt; his expression was as soft as ever—he'd only ever been that soft around me—and every inch of him told me that he loved me.

Before I could stop myself, I threw my arms around his neck and started to bawl into his shoulder. Every hidden emotion that had gone through my body in the last six months poured out right there with every heart wrenching sob.

I was holding him again. He was real. That whole day, I realized, I hadn't grasped the reality of his return. He was here again, holding me tightly, whispering comforting reassurances that he was there and that he wasn't ever going to leave me again.

_But how did he know?_ I wondered; _how did either of us know that Genbu wasn't going to take him away again?_ The question suddenly overpowered my thoughts and I pulled away from his shoulder to ask, but as soon as my face was away from his shoulder, Limdo's hands went to my cheeks, brushing away the tears from my face as he leaned in and kissed me passionately.

Well, every thought from my mind totally blanked out of my head.

I found myself kissing him back, my lips passionately and desperately moving against his, my arms pulling him tighter against me. Oh, how I'd longed for this again….how much I'd missed his lips moving against mine…

Then the question popped into my mind again; how long would this last? The moment I remembered, I pulled away, both of us sucking in air into our lungs. As Limdo went back for another round of kissing, I stopped him. "Wait, Limdo; hold on just a second." Limdo paused, waiting for me to go on. "I…how…" I struggled for words and then blurted out the first question that came to mind, "How are you here? I thought Genbu said…"

Limdo shook his head, "Never mind what Genbu said; things have changed."

"How have they changed?" I asked again, suddenly becoming more worried.

"I'll explain it when the others are around to hear it too; I don't want to repeat myself."

I was irritated, "No, I want to know." My voice was firm, showing that I wasn't going to take no for an answer.

Limdo searched my eyes with his for a moment before he sighed. "I made a deal with him," He told me.

Uncertainty once again flared inside me as I breathed out, "What sort of a deal?" I asked cautiously, and I found myself both anxious and dreading to hear the answer.

Limdo shrugged, "It's…not a big deal. I promise I'll tell you when the others are around to hear it." I frowned; I didn't like that answer. It meant that he knew I wasn't going to like it. But before I could protest against it, Limdo asked, "So what, exactly, have you been doing these past…uh, six months?"

I was suddenly frozen. I stared at him, slightly aware that I had a very alarmed expression on my face. I knew for a fact that he wasn't going to like this, not one bit. I knew it before I'd done all the stuff I'd done, and I knew eventually I'd have to tell him about it. But I had no idea how hard it would be. What was I going to tell him? _How_ was I supposed to tell him I'd put my life constantly in danger?

Instead of answering his question, I shot one of my own. "You say six months as though you don't know how long it's been," It wasn't really a question, I knew, but it served the same purpose.

Limdo looked a little irritated that I was avoiding his question, but at the same time he looked a little ashamed. "Time in the world of the gods passes differently than the real world. Kind of like the book. What may be six months for you were only a few moments for me." I knew than any other person would have been mad that the other hadn't gone through the same amount of pain and longing that they had, but I wasn't feeling that at all. I was more relieved that he hadn't suffered for so long. I knew he was upset and hurt just as I was for those few moments, and that was enough. I would have rather him have not suffered at all than for him to have suffered. "You didn't answer my question, Takiko." His stern voice interrupted my momentary relief, making me groan.

"You aren't going to like it." I told him.

His expression was serious, "I figured when Crin said you'd… _'changed_'." Inwardly I cursed; I was going to kill her for that.

"Promise you won't be mad?" I asked, although I knew my chances of him not getting mad were slim.

"I'll see what I can do," Limdo replied, making me flinch. In other words; _"I'll try, but I'm not going to promise anything." _

I gulped and peered down at my intertwined fingers in my lap. "Well…I don't really know where to start…"

"Take your time," Limdo sounded like he was bracing himself for whatever came out of my mouth. Yeah, he was _so_ not going to like what I was about to say.

"Well…um…I bought a gun." I could feel him tense instantly and I flinched, waiting for him to get angry. But he said nothing. He really was trying not to get angry with me. "And uh…well, Ziyi, Feiyan and…Hagus attacked me and…well, lets just say Ziyi's dead now." I didn't want to explain exactly how Ziyi had died, but Limdo was obviously curious.

"How did he die?" although he was curious, at the same time I could hear the caution in his voice. He definitely knew that something was up.

"Oh…he just kind of….um….died." I smiled at him innocently, and he frowned, his eyes tight, but he pressed the matter no further.

"Did you get hurt?" I knew he'd ask that. I also knew he'd be extremely angry when I told him.

"I…uh….um….broke….ah….my….um…..ribs," I whispered it, but he heard it loud and clear, apparently.

"_What?"_ Limdo hissed, his anger finally showing through, _"You….you broke what? You broke your RIBS?" _His hands instantly went to my sides, probably checking for said broken ribs.

"Limdo, I'm fine, really. I didn't even need to go to a hospital! They're fully healed now and they don't even hurt anymore…well, right now they do because…" I saw the look of worry, anger and despair on Limdo's face and instantly stopped talking. "I'm getting ahead of myself. Do you want me to continue? I told you that you weren't going to like it."

Limdo was hesitant for a while, still upset over the fact that yes, I'd gotten hurt when he wasn't around, but nevertheless he nodded his head. "Well…we came back to America, finished high school…oh, and by the way, I quit my job."

Limdo stared at me as though I was nuts. "You….quit your job?" he asked.

"Yeah, but I just got it back. Just though I'd let you know. Anyways, so we graduated and I—brace yourself Limdo—I left the house."

Limdo blinked at me, obviously not sure what I meant by that. "You 'left the house'?" He clarified.

"Yeah; we moved the girls into this house while the boys have the apartment and…after graduation, I just felt like I needed time to myself to find the warriors. So…I just left. I kept in touch of course…"

"Wait a second, you…you left? As in…without a warrior with you? You didn't even drag Crin along with you?" Limdo sounded more overwhelmed now, as though he wasn't sure what exactly to say or think.

"No…Crin was actually pretty pissed about that. But I did find Hatsui on the border of Mexico, and I didn't get hurt!" I reasoned. Limdo said nothing; instead he looked more dazed than anything. "But Crin found me and we brought Hatsui back. I got my job back, found a few more Byakko warriors, and –brace yourself Limdo," Limdo tensed, which was how I assumed he braced himself, "Crin taught me how to fight."

"SHE DID WHAT?" Limdo was obviously mad now. I closed my eyes and sighed.

"Yeah, she taught me how to fight. I can't always be protected, Limdo; that fact has been proven many times. I'm tired of feeling defenseless when those times come."

Limdo was now shooting his own questions. "If you could protect yourself, how in the world did my father get to you?"

"He didn't. Kazuza did. But we planned for that to happen, because…"

"Because why?" He demanded.

"Because I didn't know what else to do to hunt them down so that I could get Tegu back and therefore get Hagus to come back!" I answered, "Don't you understand? When you were taken away from me, I didn't know what to do! I thought that there wasn't a point to anything I was doing! But then Crin and I figured that if we did what Genbu wanted we'd be able to get you back! So I did everything I could to find everyone, and that included getting Hagus and Tegu! Yeah, it was a risky plan. It worked until Temdan got in the way…"

"I'm seriously going to kill him for everything he's done to you," Limdo snarled.

I ignored that and continued on. "But now you're back…I'm not sure I understand how you got back, but still. I'm not sure all of this is real…" Limdo suddenly leaned in and kissed me, evaporating all of the tense emotions that had built up between us. The moment he pulled away, I shook my head. "Lets not talk about this anymore. I just want to be with you right now."

Limdo pecked my lips again before he sighed. "I should probably give the explanation to everyone though. Then I'll spend some more alone time with you."

I sighed and nodded. I didn't want to share him with anyone else, but I also knew that the others deserved an explanation. Frankly, even I wanted to hear this 'explanation' of his.

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Limdo sat down at the head of the long table in the meeting room, his face no longer as soft as it was when he was around just me. I scooted a bit closer to him and under the table he grasped my hand in his and squeezed it.

We looked at the other warriors who looked back at Limdo curiously. Limdo cleared his throat. "Hey guys," he greeted, "long time no see," no answer from anyone else. The atmosphere was tense and no one knew exactly what to say. Crin was on my other side, her green eyes intent on Limdo. Even she wanted to know what exactly was going on.

"I suppose you're all wondering how and why I'm here," Limdo started. Beside me, Crin rolled her eyes as if to say, '_no duh, stupid'_. I didn't think Crin would ever really like Limdo. She'd stand him just because I loved him, but that didn't mean that she had to like him.

"After Genbu took me away, I instantly started to argue with the four gods. They merely ignored me, so I started to bargain with them. And we did come to a decision. What I'd…" He stopped, giving my hand another squeeze and his eyes darting to mine, "_we'd _benefit from is that I can stay and we can get married and enjoy all of the benefits of marriage before she summons the gods."

"_Really?"_ I exclaimed, my eyes wide with amazement. "They really agreed to that?" I couldn't believe my ears. I had never heard of them ever giving something like that up. What was the catch, though?

"Yes; but there's a catch, one that I was willing to make in order to come back and be with you." He was no longer addressing mostly the warriors; now he mostly addressed me. "In order for all that to happen, the moment we're done with the summoning, I must give up all of my powers."

Dead silence passed over all of us as we processed his words. "You're….powers? As in….you won't be able to use wind after we summon the gods?" Crin asked in disbelief, "Man, you really are a stupid man."

Limdo rolled his eyes. "Whatever Crin, whatever you say. My powers, although they are important to me because I can protect not only myself but others, are still not as important as my love for Takiko. The deals already made anyways, and it was my choice; I don't regret it at all."

"So that's why you said that you'd never leave," I whispered.

Limdo nodded and squeezed my hand constantly. "Well, now that the deals made, I'd actually like to talk to Crin and Inami and ask if it's at all possible for us to get married in a week."

"A WEEK?!" I cried in disbelief. "I don't even think that's possible Limdo!"

"That's why I asked darling," Limdo reminded me with an amused smile.

Inami and Crin were already up and out of their seats. Crin was clapping her hands excitedly, singing "wedding, wedding, I love weddings!" over and over again while Inami was going on and on and on about how it was indeed possible and that how she'd been prepared for something this big and this fast for a while.

Limdo smiled appreciatively. "Thanks guys, we really do appreciate it. Could we start tomorrow?"

Inami frowned. "Well, we could, but that presses the time….but then again, we're all pretty tired and you two probably want to be alone…." Inami glared at the other warriors. "All of you leave now."

As everyone left—both Crin and Inami discussing wedding plans as they went out the door—I turned to look at Limdo. "Why a week?" I asked.

"Because when I was taken from you, we only had a week left till our wedding. If it was possible, I'd take you as mine right now. But I don't think Crin would appreciate a Vegas wedding." He opened his arms out to me and I immediately climbed into his lap, throwing my arms around him and cradling my head into his chest. "Do you wish to hold it off?" Limdo asked.

"No, no; I'm just thinking of how busy this week is going to be. There's invitations, decorations, pictures….the list goes on and on. But I suppose we don't need that big of an invite list. I don't really want to attract the attention of paparazzi…" Limdo silenced me by kissing me.

When he pulled away, he whispered, "I don't want to think about it tonight. All I want to do is hold you."

And we did just that.

**KKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK**

**YAY LIMDO'S OFFICIALLY BACK! WHOO! Yeah, when Takiko tripped over the piano bench, I remembered the time when I was sitting on a stool at school and i triped and fell onto the concrete....it was funny. **

**Well anyways, this is the next chapter! Hope you liked it! I'll be writting the next one soon, so stand by! **

**Love**

**Alice**

**REVIEW!**


	11. Chapter 11

I stared at myself in the three-paneled mirror, taking deep breaths. This was it; today, finally, I was going to get married. In fact, in a matter of moments, Crin would pop her head in and inform me that they were ready for me.

The thought of walking down the isle to meet Limdo at the alter was both scary and exciting at the same time. From this point on, I would never walk alone. I would have him by my side. He would support me and I would support him. We would be one; I'd take on his name and live with him through the good and bad times. It was a little overwhelming, but I knew I'd get used to it fast.

To keep my mind off of the future ahead of me, I thought of the past week. Indeed, it was one of the busiest weeks of my life. I hardly ever got to see Limdo, and when I did it was either for wedding business—like taking pictures together for the reception—or for free time, which was _very_ limited.

Crin had mostly been in charge of getting me ready. She hired professional hair dressers; make up doers, and other various things that frankly made my head hurt when I tried to list them all. Inami worked mostly on making sure that Limdo's suit was tailored, that the reception was ready—which was being set up while we were at the wedding, because apparently we weren't allowed to see it—and other various things that she hadn't informed me about.

I sighed and looked myself over in the mirror again. I wore the white wedding dress with silver designs in it that I'd bought back in Japan. My hair had been pulled back, with curls cascading down and a silver tiara placed into my hair. I had taken off the Genbu necklace that I usually wore and instead wore a diamond necklace. Around my waist was a green sash—the wedding color.

Suddenly the door opened up behind me and Crin walked in. She was in her dark green, extravagant dress that had ruffles at the bottom. I turned around to face her and smiled. It was the first time we'd seen each other since the moment she'd dropped me off in my private dressing room. "How do I look?" I asked, twirling to show the dress off.

Crin smiled brilliantly back at me. "Stunning as usual, Takiko." She reassured me.

I rolled my eyes. "It's not everyday I get to wear a wedding dress,"

"You could if you wanted to," Crin pointed out.

"How about no," I teased, walking towards her. "Are you ready?" I asked her. Crin was my maid of honor and she was to walk down the isle in front of me.

"Of course I'm ready; all I have to do is smile at people. That's not a hard concept for me." She rolled her eyes, "Its you that needs to be ready,"

"I've been ready for this for a long while." I informed her before throwing my arms around her and hugging her tightly. "Thanks for everything Crin; you have no idea how much all of this means to me."

Crin giggled and returned the embrace. "Teehee, what are best friends for? I lurb you Takiko,"

"I lurb you too Crin," I laughed.

Crin giggled and pulled away, "Larva!"

I made a face as Crin turned and walked out the door, me following after grabbing my red and white flower bouquet. "My love for you isn't tainted by larva," I mumbled, making Crin giggle furiously.

We reached the door to the chapel and Crin instantly stopped giggling like a little school girl. The man at the door looked at us and I nodded at him. I was ready for this.

The man nodded back and opened the oak door, revealing the small chapel. As I'd planned, I didn't have a very large wedding. I had all of my warriors, a few of my friends, including Jesse and Rachel –who'd gotten married right after high school and were having a wonderful relationship—and my agent and old principle.

The music changed to Canon in D and I forced myself to step to the beat. I'd always considered those who described the march down the aisle to be the longest walk of their lives to be small minded. But now that I was in that situation I suddenly realized the truthfulness of that description. I so wanted to forget about the beat and walk—no, run at my own pace to Limdo's side. But I refrained with all my might from doing so. Instead, I forced myself to stay to the beat—I had to admit, I was a little intimidated by what Inami might have done to me if I had decided to forget about the beat of the music.

Finally I reached the end of the aisle and smiled as Limdo held out his hand to me, his smile as radiant as the sun. He'd waited for this as long as I had and now the time had come. Nothing could stop it now.

I grasped his hand and he tightly squeezed it back, pulling me to his side as we both turned and faced the pastor. The pastor smiled as he started the ceremony.

I couldn't hear his words at all. All I could concentrate on was Limdo's body next to me, his hand clasped around mine. I didn't care about or feel the others eyes on me, hear their whispers. All that mattered was Limdo and I.

"I do," I heard Limdo say. I watched the pastor's mouth move, and when he stopped talking, I took the chance and said "I do,"

The pastor smiled—a good response; hopefully that meant I'd said it at the right time—and I finally heard words that would make us officially one. "I now pronounce you Man and Wife. You may now kiss the bride."

Before I could react, Limdo took me around the waist, dipped me back and kissed me passionately. When we broke, his lips found mine again…and again…and again. "Or you could kiss her four or five times." The pastor chuckled and I could hear everyone else laugh as Limdo finally pulled me back to standing position.

"Congratulations you two!" Mayra cried as she walked up to us and threw her arms around me. "Oh, you've grown up so much the past few years Takiko; you're making me feel so old!" We were now standing in my foyer before the living room where the dinner for the reception was being held.

"I love how you're acting like my own mother," I laughed as I hugged her back.

"I'm just so happy for you…" Mayra cried as she pulled away and looked at Limdo, "You take good care of her, you hear?"

"Of course I will," Limdo smiled, pulling me closer to his side.

Suddenly Crin was on my other side, a smile on her face. "Mayra, I know you want to cry and ogle over them, but you've got to let them get to dinner. It's getting cold." Mayra nodded her head and walked on into the living room to find her seat, leaving only Limdo, Crin and I in the foyer.

"My cheeks hurt," I mumbled as Limdo started to lead me into the living room, "I don't think I've ever smiled for so many pictures and for so many people ever in my life,"

"Well I've still got some smiles saved for you," Limdo muttered in my ear before kissing my cheek tenderly as Crin led us to our seat.

"I wanted us to have only candy and ice cream, but Inami wouldn't let me. She wanted to have an actual dinner before we dug into the cake." Crin rolled her eyes as she sat down in her own seat next to mine. I sat down next to Limdo and took his hand quickly before grabbing a fork and digging it into the steak that Tomite had prepared for everyone.

We ate and talked, mostly about what we planned for the future—although when Mayra asked, we left out the part about summoning the four gods as quick as possible and skipped to the part about raising our own family.

As dinner ended, the music was turned up a bit and Limdo put his fork down and turned to me. "Would you like to dance, love?" although my cheeks still hurt from smiling so much, I smiled at him. I couldn't help it; every time I looked at him, I was reminded of the happy future we would be spending with one another. I eagerly nodded and took his hand and he pulled me onto the area where it had been cleared specially for dancing.

A few other couples were already dancing to the beat and as Limdo pulled me to him, I completely forgot that we were in a room full of people. As we danced to some song I really wasn't paying much attention to, I found myself thinking about the night he told me he loved me. "Do you know what I find funny?" I whispered.

"Hm?" He sounded as content as I was to just stay in my arms as I was in his.

"The night that started our relationship…you asked me to dance with you."

"At the festival," Limdo finished, as though he too were remembering. "I remember. A lot has changed since then, hasn't it?"

"It certainly has," I sighed, pressing my face against his chest. "But I don't mind. There are things I wish hadn't happened but did, but that's in the past now. All that matters is now and what lies ahead of us."

"We've got a long future together," Limdo pointed out.

"A promising one," I agreed.

We danced in silence almost the entire reception, both of us content to just hold one another. I almost felt bad for not socializing, but this is was our night. This was the beginning of the rest of our lives. And I wanted to enjoy every moment of it with him.

Before we knew it, the reception came to a close and Limdo and I found us stationed at the door, telling everyone "thanks for coming" and goodbye.

"Congrats, brother," Takara said when she and Hikitsu had come up. Hikitsu held a large box in his hands but Limdo ignored him. Limdo had found out about their engagement the day after his return from Takara herself and although he'd tried to be happy for them, it was obvious he was still not too happy with Hikitsu for 'taking his innocent sister away'.

"Hikitsu, the presents are over there," I pointed to the pile of presents stacked by the stair case, but Hikitsu made no move to go over there.

"This present kind of needs to be opened now," Hikitsu admitted, shoving the box at Limdo.

Limdo took the box from Hikitsu and gave him a suspicious look. "What's in it?" he asked as his fingers went to the ribbon.

"Oh, you'll see." Hikitsu laughed.

Limdo stared at Hikitsu for a moment before finally he tore the paper off a box with holes stabbed into it. "It's a box," Limdo commented, "A…stabbed one. Why in the world would you stab a box?"

Takara rolled her eyes. "Stop acting like an idiot and open the box."

Limdo sighed and opened the flap to the box and looked in. And was dead silent for a long time.

Finally he looked back up at Hikitsu and Takara. "Why did you guys get us a dog?" He asked suspiciously.

"They got us a dog?" I cried, my hands reaching into feel a furry head shove itself under my hand. I reached around in there for a moment before finally I was able to find a place to pick it up safely by and pulled it out of the box. In my hands was a cute little yellow lab puppy dog, grinning its lazy smile at me. "Oh, how cute!"

"Why do we need a dog?" Limdo asked again, ignoring my coos.

"Well, you needed a manly present," Hikitsu replied, "And dogs are man's best friend."

"But we'll take him from you tonight so that you two can be alone," Takara interrupted, "We just wanted to make sure this little guy was opened up before he died or something."

"I can't believe this," Limdo mumbled as he took the dog from me and handed it to Takara. "You two are insane,"

"Hey, I predict that this'll be a good thing for you two," Takara snapped, "So get over it. Bye Takiko!" She smiled at me and left the house.

We were left alone.

I shut the door and leaned my forehead against it and sighed. "What a long day," I mumbled, "I thought they'd never leave."

Suddenly Limdo's arms were around me. "They've left though…along with our new….dog." I felt him shudder and laughed.

"Not exactly what you wanted for a wedding present, huh?"

"Not at all."

"Well it could be fun," I told him as I turned around in his arms, leaned up and kissed him passionetly. When I pulled away, I grinned and wiggled out of his arms. "RACE YOU UP THE STAIRS!" I cried as pulled my skirts up and bolted around him, heading for the stairs.

"OH NO YOU DON'T!" Limdo laughed as he too bolted after me. We raced up the stairs, both of us fighting for the lead.

"I'm going to win!" I laughed as I pulled into the lead again.

Limdo quickly got ahead and changed into a girl, "We'll see about that!" he laughed as wind started to swirl around him.

"NO FAIR!" I yelled as he leaped up. At the same time, I dove for him and grabbed hold of his ankle. The moment he transported to the top of the stairs, I too was transported along with him.

We landed at the top of the stairs, me on top of him. "You're not supposed to use your powers," I complained as he laughed. I slowly got off of him and took his face in my hands and leaned down and sweetly kissed him.

As I kissed him, Limdo leaned up and swept me out from under my feet and pulled me into his lap. We broke for air as he stood up and started to carry me to my…our room. "I love you," I whispered against his chest.

"I love you too, Takiko." He smiled as he opened up the door, walked in, and kicked it shut behind him.


	12. Chapter 12

**AN; This chapter is mostly in Crin's point of view for a very important reason. DO NOT SKIP! You'll seriously be extremely confused if you do. And if you didn't read Crin's past in the second book of this trilogy, then you're going to be even more confused no matter what, and I suggest you go back and look it over. No, the rest of the story will not be in Crin's point of view. There may be times, but not really. It's still going to be Takiko's cuz…Takiko equals EPIC! XD jk. **

**REVIEW!**

**Love, Alice**

**(Crin's point of view) **

The battle raged around me. I looked desperately for some sign of him, any sign of him. All I could see though were bodies fighting and stabbing. There was blood, lots of blood.

"Tian!" I shouted searching for him among the soldiers around me. There, I saw him standing

on a small rise in the battle field. I couldn't understand what he was doing there in the open, he was smarter than that. I ran up to where he was, calling at him to move or get away from such an exposed area. I was a few feet next to him before he even noticed me.

"Crin?" His face was puzzled when he saw me, as if he was unsure where he was.

"Tian, get down from there, you'll be shot!" His face was still confused. I tried to reach for him but my feet were stuck. I looked down and saw nothing holding them, but it was like invisible hands were keeping me back. "Tian! _Tian_!!" As I watched the arrow shot him, going straight into his chest. I could smell the tangy scent of blood fill the air, hear the thud as his body hit the ground. I struggled and struggled to try to get to him, to help in any way possible. I could see that he was still breathing, even though his eyes were closed. There was crimson blood pooling around the shaft of the arrow, far too much blood than should be coming out of an arrow wound, but it was still flowing which meant he was alive. There was no way to get to him though, not when I was being restrained by some invisible force. It wasn't until he was dead on the ground that my feet were released. I ran to him holding his dead body in my arms, the blood soaking my clothes and staining them a deep scarlet. I started to sob, then the familiar surge of power came over me, the anger that swamped my body and made me go insane with rage.

I woke with a start. My eyes were streaming with tears, my body coated in a cold sweat. It was the same dream that I had been having for the past few nights. The dreams had come before of course, the haunting memory of Tian's death would be something that I would never be able to forget. They had never come so frequently for such a long time though and it was unsettling. And that rage, that sweeping uncontrollable urge to kill, anything and everything. It scared me, shook me to my core.

I opened the door that led out onto the small porch outside my room. The cool night breeze brushed up against my face, turning the sweat into little beads of icy coolness. The cold helped me clear my mind and try to block the memories. I have Tomite now, I told myself, I can finally move on. I am moving on.

Reminded of my engagement I looked down at the ring that sparkled on my finger. The diamonds twinkled in the light from the full moon, casting sparkles on everything around me. I smiled to myself, soon it would be time. Takiko and Limdo had already had their wedding, that left Tomite and me (besides Hikitsu and Takara, though they had already told us that their wedding would be after ours) to tie the knot. It was something that I had been looking forward to ever since I saw Takiko walk down that aisle with her face so full of ultimate happiness. I knew that I too would feel that happiness when I walk down the aisle to meet Tomite.

Out to the east the barest hints of pink could be seen. It was too late to go to sleep now. I sat on a chair that I had set out for this purpose and watched the sunrise.

Later that day I stood in a recording studio. I could see the producer and my manager through the glass that separated the soundproof room from the room where they controlled all the audio. I nodded, letting them know that I was ready to start. The music swept me up and I started to sing.

Lucy

Suddenly,  
It all seems like a blurry dream  
But I was there, wide awake  
I lived it all

Come, come back to me  
I'm longing for you  
And my dreams to be true  
Where the fields bloom bright,  
Mountains glow  
I see him

We were there  
We were kings and queens  
Close to you  
Wide awake  
I know where I belong  
But memories are strong

Come, come back to me  
I'm longing for you  
And my dreams to be true  
Where the fields bloom bright,  
Mountains glow  
I see him

Where the fields bloom bright,  
Mountains glow  
I see him

I'll be back  
When I hear his voice  
Hear him call

I smiled to myself as the music faded. It was a bit ironic, what I had just sung. That is, ironic compared to what I was about to sing. That was the old me, time for the new.

"I've something new that I want to sing today." The producer and my manager looked at me through the glass that separated to sound booth from the actual recording area. They were used to this, my spontaneous fits of writing.

"Ok Crin, go ahead and give out the music." I handed the various band embers the sheets of scoring that I had used my extra time in the morning to work on. They seemed slightly annoyed that they would have to learn new music but I brushed it aside. They were professionals, they could handle it. I shifted my weight from foot to foot impatiently, my skirts rustling around my legs.

"Ready?" I nodded. "Let's hear it." The waves of music I spent the early morning hours pouring my soul into started to drift into hearing. I let myself sink into them, embracing the music.

You tell me that I need to remember

I tell you that I'll never forget

When you haunt me I cry and cry and cry

Sometimes it's hard to let go when there is so much regret

It's hard to say that last goodbye

But just when you think everything's dark

There's a new sunrise in the sky

a light that signals a brand new start.

I've come a long way

I know it's been awhile

But how much have I changed

And how much have you?

But with the start of each new day

I put on a bright new smile

And though some new things are strange

I have to remember that things that are good are often new

Sometimes it's hard to say that last goodbye

But just when you think everything's dark

There's a new sunrise in the sky

a light that signals a brand new start.

Things are better now

Though I know that I'll never be the same

And even though I'm missing you

I have people who help me through

And now I've finally finished my waiting game

I'm ready to say that final vow

Sometimes it's hard to say that last goodbye

But just when you think everything's dark

There's a new sunrise in the sky

a light that signals a brand new start.

So here it is

But I hope you know

There will always be a part of me to love you

So

Goodbye

This is Home

I've got my memories  
Always  
Inside of me  
But I can't go back  
Back to how it was  
I believe you now  
I've come too far  
No I can't go back  
Back to how it was  
Created for a place  
I've never known

Chorus:  
This is home  
Now I'm finally  
Where I belong  
Where I belong  
Yeah, this is home  
I've been searching  
For a place of my own  
Now I've found it  
Maybe this is home  
Yeah, this is home

Belief over misery  
I've seen the enemy  
And I won't go back

Back to how it was  
And I got my heart  
Set on  
What happens next  
I got my eyes wide  
It's not over yet  
We are miracles  
And we're not alone

(Chorus)

And now after all  
My searching  
After all my questions  
I'm gonna call it home  
I got a brand new mindset  
I can finally see  
The sunset  
I'm gonna call it home

(Chorus)

Now I know  
Yeah, this is home

I've come too far  
And I won't go back  
Yeah, this is home

About an hour later I stood outside the recording studio. It annoyed me that I couldn't just drive my Lotus but Tomite said he didn't trust me with the fast car. I couldn't understand what he meant, cop cars couldn't go nearly as fast as my Lotus so there was no reason to worry. I'd be gone before they even had a chance to turn on their siren.

Thinking of Tomite my mind shifted once again toward my wedding. I wasn't sure if I was excited as much as I was just ready to get it over with. I loved Tomite, that much I was sure of. Enough that I wanted to stay with him the rest of my life. What I wanted to know is why couldn't I just say, "Okay let's be together forever."

No, that wasn't it, I wanted a wedding. I just wanted to celebrate with…everyone. Sure Takiko would be there, but the crowd that was at her wedding, all the friends and people that loved her, was so much larger than anything I could ever expect. I felt insecure, that somehow the insignificant number of friends I had, of people that loved me compared to Takiko, made me less of someone. It was a completely irrational thought and I quickly shooed it out of my mind, but it was always there tugging at me. Saying, "you're nothing, you don't even deserve to be loved."

That too was the heart of my problems. The feeling that I didn't deserve any of this, that I should not be allowed to move on. But hadn't I just silenced that in the song I wrote that morning? I said goodbye, goodbye to Tian forever. I winced as I thought the name, it still caused me hurt to think of him. Whenever I thought those feelings and my insecurities and depression began to overwhelm me, I thought of Tomite. Then everything would get better. Oh, and a lollipop never hurt when I needed cheering up either.

The bag at my side began to vibrate. I looked into the small Coach purse that hung from its shoulder strap. Purses aren't supposed to vibrate. Then I remembered that since my dress had no pockets to stuff it in I had put my phone in my purse earlier that morning. Checking the collar id I answered with a grin.

"Hello dear Takiko. Have you brought me back lovely Hawaiian candy?" My voice was back to its sweet disposition. I found that speaking in such tones was much more fun than being serious, plus it was funny to see everyone's faces when I catch them off guard by talking seriously every once in a while.

"Hey." Was her only reply. She sounded happy, the tone making me relieved. I still was worried she might go back to emo Takiko, even though Limdo was around. Then I'd have to throw candy, or maybe even a flaming pillow, at her and I knew how much she hated that.

"Having fun with Limdo?" I asked casually. Everyone knew what honeymoons meant, and it sure was fun to tease Takiko about. What are best friends for?

"Anyway," She always tried to brush aside my comments. It was so disheartening that since we were talking on the phone I couldn't see the rolled eyes with a hint of blush when I said stuff like that. If I didn't get such interesting, and often funny, reactions I wouldn't say the things I say. "The flight attendant-No I don't want a premium package for the fifth time!- told me that we should be getting back late tonight." It sounded like Takiko had her hands full flying first class. I told her that we should have just gotten our own private jet but she wouldn't listen.

"So since we'll be getting in so late," She continued on, "Limdo and I were wondering if you wanted to round everyone up and through a late night party? It'll be a pool party…" My ears had pricked up as soon as she said the word party. There was only one small thing that I would have to clear up.

"Are you cooking?" I asked.

"No, why?" She replied, her voice a little suspicious.

"Because I don't trust your cooking. I actually feel sorry for your husband." I could hear her offended noises from the other end. Limdo was asking her what was wrong in the background. An evil grin spread over my face as I held in laughter.

"Shut up Crin, do you want to throw a party or not?" That was a stupid question, of course I wanted to throw a party.

"Duh…Genbu's been taking forever with his." I remembered too late that it wasn't a good idea to mention Genbu in front of Takiko. Ever since the whole Limdo fiasco she didn't take to him too kindly.

"…Yeah…" I winced, was she going to get all depressed again? There was a silence that stretched far too long for my comfort, then finally; "I called Miaka."

"I thought I told you no celestial business!" It was true, as I had shoved them into the line for security at the airport I had repeated over and over that this trip was for them to relax and have fun. Not be all worried about the mission. I had also sent several text messages as reminders, but was forced to stop when Takiko said that she wouldn't bring me back any candy if I continued to pester her.

"I called them before I called you, my honeymoon is over now." That was at least reasonable. "There's good news, and there's bad news."

"Good news first" That was my automatic reply. Because no matter what bad news would just make you feel bad and if you got it first or last that wouldn't change the fact that's it's bad.

"Ok then…Yui has all of her warriors." That _was_ good news. Though knowing her warriors, as I had learned from watching them, it wasn't necessarily a good thing. Especially that beast guy, he was smelly. I would have to douse him in perfume before I let him anywhere near me. "I'll be booking a flight for her tomorrow morning."

"To Hawaii?" That seemed like a silly idea. How would she be able to help if she was all the way over there?

"No, to California silly." Takiko giggled at my response.

"Oh…so what's the bad news?" I remembered that there was bad news.

"…The priestess of Byakko is dead." The line went silent. Dead, I thought. That wasn't good. People don't come back from that to help with missions.

"So what do we do?" I asked.

"I don't know. We'll have to figure it out as time goes on I guess." She sounded disheartened. After so much work to get everyone together and for everything to work we had to hit this snag. You would think having gods on your side would help things.

"Sounds good to me." There wasn't much else to say on the subject.

"Well I have to go, see you tonight." The light mood was now completely crushed. I let out an inner sigh. Must everything always be so serious when it comes to these matters? "And Crin?" I had started to click my phone off but now I put it back my ear. "You can bring whatever food you want."

"Woot!" I shrieked in delight. The line went dead and I was left to plan for the party as I waited for Tomite.

I stood there lost in thought when I sensed someone watching me. I casually took out a compact from my purse and pretended to powder my nose with it. I looked through the mirror all around behind me but saw no one. With the enemy on the prowl you could never be too careful. I put the compact away as Tomite pulled up to the curb. I could still feel those eyes on me, my nerves fizzing in readiness for an attack.

"Hey good lookin', wan'a ride? " I giggled at Tomite's silliness. He always made me laugh or feel better. I brushed off the strange feeling and got in the car.

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"Candy! Come here Candy!" the yellow labrador puppy jumped around me trying to get at the treats I held in my hands over his head. He was a small fluff ball after having been dunked in the pool and his hair drying every which way. He had been a little too excited about seeing Takiko after such a long absence and had jumped into the pool after her even when he knew he couldn't swim.

"Crin, his name is not candy, it's Gunnar. And I thought I told you before, candy isn't for dogs." Takiko snatched away the candy from my hands. I looked mournfully as she threw it at Kay who instantly consumed _my_ candy.

"But candy is good for everything…" My voice drifted off as we both stood and watched everyone. The guys were playing that chicken game in the pool. I had tried it but I couldn't hold anyone on my shoulders because my face was under the water most of the time, being so short, and then when I had attacked Limdo they told me that it wasn't in the rules to punch him in the face. Kay was watching the whole thing through the lens of her camera. She was video taping it for "The future Takiko clones" which is what she was calling the children that Takiko and Limdo were going to have.

"Do you have any names picked out?" I asked her. She seemed startled by my question. She thought before she answered.

"I'm not really sure. I mean, I want to have children but with all that's going on now I can't afford to be pregnant. Not to mention I don't want to drag my kids into this mess." I nodded, that seemed logical enough. A battlefield was no place for a child. "What about you?"

The question caught me off guard. "Me? Have kids?" It had never crossed my mind. I had learned to live so much in the present that even planning a wedding had been a leap for me. Thinking so far into the future that children would be involved was just something that I didn't do. Maybe it was time to start thinking.

"Sure, unless you and Tomite decide you don't want any. Somehow I think that you two would be very good parents, despite the android baby incident." I smiled when she said it, thinking back to the weird electronic thing that the teacher had made me carry around. I figured that the best thing to with it was feed it candy, how was I to know that it was supposed to be a baby? Babies aren't made of plastic.

"I hope you're right…" I muttered to myself. Voices drifted over to us. Takara and Inami were talking on the other side of the pool. Takiko noticed the direction of my gaze.

"I think she's a little nervous about the wedding, she's not used to being in the spotlight. What about you, are you nervous?" I could tell there was something more that she meant more than my being nervous about the wedding.

"I love him. Love him more than anyone else. I realized that now that I've allowed myself to move on I can truly be capable of love. I know that I will always love…Tian." The name was a painful one to say." But Tomite is my soul mate and I've realized that. I'm not nervous about marrying him, not at all. What I'm nervous about is that the cake won't have enough sugar and icing. " Takiko smiled at me.

"That _would_ be something you would worry about." We giggled at the thought of a giant cake covered in layer upon layer of sugary icing. For me it was giggles of how delicious it would be, for her it was how ridiculous it would be.

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**(Takiko's point of view) **

I was awake, and yet I wasn't. My mind was alert to everything that was going on around me, but my eyes were still closed. I wanted to sleep more; I judged the time to be around seven thirty in the morning. I snuggled closer to the warm body beside me, my arms tightening around his chest.

For a moment we both lay there, breathing deeply with one another, his arm limply around my waist as he slept beside me, but after a moment he too stirred, his arm tightening around me and pulling me closer to him as though I were his teddy bear. I could feel him waking up, but I did not wish to wake up just yet. I kept my eyes closed, knowing that he knew that I was awake. He could wake me up officially when he wanted to, I decided.

I listened to him sigh, and then the room plunged into silence once more. I listened to the silence for a moment, wondering what was taking him so long. Finally his hand slid up to my chin, where he cupped it gently and leaned in, kissing me gently on the lips. "Wake up, sleeping beauty." He mumbled, brushing some of my hair out of my face.

I sighed and opened my eyes to find Limdo's amazing silver eyes boring into mine, a soft smile on his face as he stroked my hair. Although I particularly didn't wish to be woken up, I found myself not minding that he'd been the one to wake me up so wonderfully. "I could get used to this," I whispered, pecking his lips.

"I already have," He chuckled, kissing me back longer and fuller. When he pulled away, both of us merely lay there, holding each other and listening to the birds that sang outside, announcing the arrival of a new morning. "It's nice to be home," Limdo finally sighed, sitting up.

I didn't budge, although I was disappointed that he'd let me go. "Where are you going in such a hurry?" I teased, "Are you and the guys doing something today?" Limdo looked back at me. He hadn't put his hair into his pony tail, so I could see the knots that were beginning to form in his hair; he wasn't going to be happy to brush that out. Guys hair, I'd realized quickly, wasn't as soft as a woman's hair; maybe it was the way they washed it.

"Not really," Limdo answered after a moment, "Hikitsu," He said the name through clenched teeth—he still wasn't too happy that his sister was getting married, even if it was someone whom he'd trusted for years, "Wanted to go paintballing. Said it was a 'manly' sport. I don't get his deal with 'manly' stuff, but okay."

"I think he's been reading too many guy magazines and is just excited about it. He'll faze out of it." I shrugged, "But I bet you don't mind."

"I mind that my dog seems to have a thing for my wife," Limdo laughed, rolling over to lean over me. I smiled and wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him down to me so that I could kiss him.

"You're the only man for me," I told him when he pulled away. Limdo grinned triumphantly and then started to kiss my neck.

"I think I'm going to stay home today," Limdo pronounced between kisses. I closed my eyes, a smile on my face.

"Oh, why would that be?" I asked.

"Because I want you to myself today," He rolled over, pulling me so that I was above him. "I'm going to lock everyone out and I'm going to keep you to myself today; I might even lock the dog outside too."

"You know Crin will find a way in," I told him, "She always does."

"I don't care; I'm still going to lock her out." Limdo grumbled before a smile plastered back onto his face. "No one will interfere with us today…"

Right on cue, the doorbell downstairs rang.

Limdo sighed. "Did you invite anyone over?" He asked, a little annoyed that our 'day' together had been put on hold momentarily.

"No," I told him, "but it's probably just a package or something. I'll go take care of it since I'm the only one dressed in something other than boxers." I touched the tip of his nose with my index finger before sliding off the bed, pushing my hair back into a pony tail and glanced at myself in the mirror. A white tank top and black mini shorts was decent enough for a UPS guy.

I went to the bedroom door and opened it, but just before stepping out, I stopped and looked back at Limdo who still lay in bed. "Stay there, I'll be back in a moment." I ordered.

"As you wish," Limdo grinned, putting his arms behind his head to make himself comfortable.

I smiled and left the room, closing the door behind me and jogged down the stairs and into the entry way. I reached the front door, and got ready to endure the stare of a UPS guy; hey, he was stupid enough to come at seven thirty in the morning, he got to live with the consequences. I opened the door and stopped.

Who in the world?

A man that looked to be in his twenties stood before her. He had black hair with a goatee, with his hair spiked. He wore cargo pants and a Volcom t-shirt. He stood there with a laid back appearance, and yet I could see anxiety reflected in his almost black eyes as he stared down at me.

We stared at one another for a long moment. This guy definitely wasn't a UPS guy; UPS guys have uniforms. So I was standing there with my hair in a mess and in a white tank top and black mini shorts. Great.

He said nothing, only stared at me with a blank expression. _Oh gosh,_ I thought in despair; this wasn't one of those crazy, stalker-ish fans, was it? Those never ended well. Finally, after deciding on either slamming the door on his face or calling the cops, I forced myself to smile awkwardly. "Hi," I slowly greeted, "May I help you with something?"

He just stood there staring at me. This was getting REALLY creepy; I was seriously about to slam the door in his face and then run back to Limdo's side. Limdo of course would hunt the guy down and probably kill him, but at least it would take care of my stalker problem…for now.

Just as I was about to slam the door in his face, he finally said in a purely shocked tone, "You're not her."

I blinked at him once. I blinked at him twice. "I'm…sorry," I slowly started, not sure what to think of this. Was he a creepy stalker or not? "Maybe you have the wrong house…"

"No I have the right house," he assured me confidently.

I stared at him with wide eyes. This was getting REALLY weird. "I'm sure that I'd know who lived in my own house." I slowly stated.

"Well I know she's here." He insisted, starting to look a little impatient with me. Hey, he was the one who wasn't giving me the answers I wanted and needed.

"Who's here?" I asked hesitantly.

"Crin," he impatiently answered his voice anxious. "I need to see Crin right away." What did I look like, his messenger?

"Crin lives in an apartment downtown," I told him, "she no longer lives here." Then I paused. "At least she shouldn't be here," I mumbled. I started to turn around, ready to hunt down Crin wherever she was and drag her downstairs to confront the creepy guy at the door. But as soon as I remembered the creepy guy, I hesitantly turned to look at him. "Um…come in." I stepped aside and allowed him to come in. Slowly he stepped through, his eyes darting around the entry way, observing everything around him.

"Nice place you have here," He grumbled as an attempt to be polite.

I had started to head up the stairs but stopped to reply, "Uh…thanks…hold on, I'm going to go see if she's here." I turned without waiting for a reply, running up the stairs towards Crin's old bedroom.

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**Crin's point of view **

Gentle hands shook me awake. I looked up to see Takiko staring down at me. I glanced at the clock, 7:35, far too early for her to be waking me up. For her to wake me up this early meant something was wrong. I searched her face for some sign of distress, instead there was only annoyance, confusion, and intrigue.

"There's some guy here who says he knows you." She said as I pulled the covers away. I was a little cold in my camisole and short pajama shorts but I ignored it. Takiko had had the same rude awakening it seemed because she was wearing her pajamas as well.

"Takiko, common sense would say that I do not know him since I come from a different era entirely. If you let him in the house I am seriously going to kick you in the face." She looked a little sheepish. But letting strange men in the house was not a good idea, not when the strange man could turn out to be an enemy and trying to kill us all. Though a good fight was fun every once in a while…

"Crin, I really think you should come and see him though. I'm pretty sure you've met him before." I shrugged my indifference, either way I would have to go down there and shove this person out of the house. I followed her downstairs and to the door. No one else was up this early, no one sensible that is. I was distracted by my thoughts about what I was going to have to do to this weirdo who was probably a stalker when I stopped in my tracks.

"Tian…?" Standing in front of the door, looking at some pictures on the wall was the man that I had been dreaming of the past few weeks. Dreaming of his _death_.

"Hey there Crin. Did you miss me?"

I looked this man over. The man that had died in my arms. He certainly looked like Tian, his hair was even cut the way I had cut it with a dagger so many years ago.

"You're dead." I said accusingly. How could he do this to me? I just get over him and he suddenly shows up. I mean, I was happy to see him, don't get me wrong, but really. People don't just come back to life after over four hundred years.

"If I was dead I wouldn't be standing here." He looked a little sad; his eyes were full of so much longing. I remembered all that time we had spent together. "This really isn't the welcome I was expecting you know."

"When people die you really don't expect to be welcoming them at all." I glanced over at Takiko who was standing off to the side, her face full of confusion. Oh fun, something else I would have to explain…

"I'm not dead. See?" He took my hand and placed it on his chest. I could feel the beating of his heart. Either this was a really good illusion or he was right, he wasn't dead. I stood there with my hand on his chest, his hand still on my wrist. I looked up into his eyes and he took the opportunity to fiercely and passionately kiss me.

I struggled for a second, then slipped into the easiness of the kiss. His kisses were so familiar, and I was still way too stunned to really react.

"Oh, hey Crin. WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?!" I pulled away as the familiar voice drifted into hearing. My face was one giant blush. How was I supposed to explain this to Tomite?

"What are you doing in my house Tomite?!" Takiko seemed just as shocked to see Tomite here as I was. He wasn't allowed to sleep in Limdo's and Takiko's house, then again neither was I.

"I slept here after the party, it was too late to drive home." He explained. Tian was standing protectively next to me. I looked up to see his face was set in a grim line.

"Crin, who is this?" He asked. I looked to Tomite whose face was also grim. This wasn't good.

"Tian, this is Tomite. Tomite this is Tian." I pointed at each respectively, hoping that might break the frosty atmosphere that was now spilling through the room. Instead the atmosphere got even chillier as they glared at each other. Finally they broke their eye contact to look at me.

"Isn't there something else you need to tell him Crin?" They both said it at the same time. They two men looked at each other accusingly.

"I'm her lover!" "I'm here fiancé!" Their words overlapped, and I knew that I had a long road ahead of me from here on out. "WHAT DID YOU SAY?!?" They said, once again is perfect unison.

"Tomite, this is Tian. I'm sure you remember him from the little trip you took into my past. He's one of my warriors." Tomite looked from me to the man standing next to me, the realization finally dawning on his face. I looked into his eyes, pleading for him to understand what I was going to say next. "Could you go cook some breakfast? I need to talk to Tian. Alone."

Tomite looked at me, and I felt like my heart was going to rip in two. His eyes held so much confusion and pain, but at the same time he seemed like he placed absolute trust in me. I wasn't about to let him down. Hadn't I just told Takiko last night that I was prepared to be with Tomite forever? Now I knew the kind of tricks the gods were willing to play, they were going to have me test my love against the man who I hadn't given up for over four hundred years and the man that I had known for a little over one.

I led Tian to the back patio where the pool was. He walked the same way I remembered, hands stuffed in his pockets, a casual and long gait that said he hadn't a care in the world. There was so much about him that seemed so _familiar _as if it hadn't been so long, only a day or two. The twinkle in his eyes, the scar along his cheek, his arms, his legs. Everything about him screamed the Tian I remembered, but it was still hard to believe that it was him. Not with his death still do vivid in my mind.

"He's not right is he?" I looked up at him. We had stopped by the far end of the pool, there were some chairs set out there so I sat, he noticed and followed suit. It was much easier to talk this way, it didn't hurt my neck to look at him when he was seated.

"He is right. Tomite's my fiancé, he has been for a while now." The hurt I saw in Tian's eyes was something that I couldn't bear, I had to look away at the water in the pool.

"But, I don't see how you could have forgotten me so quickly. I thought you loved me." I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes. This was too much, I couldn't bear it.

"It's been over four hundred years Tian, I had to move on." I looked at him. Despite the overwhelming sadness that I felt when I looked at him, I was confused. Why did he think that it had only been a little while that he was dead?

"Four hundred years? I died just over a year ago. I remember it like it was yesterday. You were the last thing I saw, then nothing. Until Suzaku appeared and told me that I had to help you with this mission. He sent me to your world and I've been here for just over a year now." I stared at him, unsure what he meant. A little over a year?

"Tian, when you died something…happened. And because of it the gods wouldn't let me go back to my world. I was stuck in your world for over four hundred years and by some twist of fate I didn't age at all. I do love you Tian but you have to understand, you were dead, I had to move on. I only started to move on a few months ago." This must be why he was the same, like nothing had changed. He looked at me, cupping my cheek in one of his hands.

"Does this have to do with your eyes?" I jumped back a bit, startled.

"How do you know about that?" I asked him. He reached out with the hand that had held my cheek and now took my hand.

"When Suzaku sent me into your world he took me to Beijing. It was a little frightening at first, I will admit, for someone from a different world entirely to see so much modern stuff. But almost immediately upon coming there I noticed the billboards, the posters in shop windows, and the magazines with pictures of you on them. You were different, you had never really like dresses of the sort that you wore before, and your eyes were green in most of them, but I could recognize you even if you dyed your hair blonde and dressed in a bunny suit. I do have to say, I will miss that lovely shade of gold they always had." I blushed a bit at this, remembering for the first time in so many years the eye color I was born with. So that was it then, that's how he knew where I was. He had heard about my career and must have read about my connection to America and Takiko.

"My eyes change color with my mood, it's easy enough to suppress when I want to, then they go back to green as a neutral color. But that's not the only thing about me that has changed, Tian." I lifted my free hand and placed it between us. Rising from my palm came streams of water and fire, one of each. They twined around each other, never touching and keeping a respectable distance away from both of us.

Tian reached out a hand to touch the elements that danced on my palm. Before he could touch them I closed my fingers up into a fist, letting the fire and water disappear back into nothingness. I looked at his face, unsure of what his reaction would be. His features were lit by a bright smile and wonderment in his eyes.

"Well?" I asked, not sure what to make of this strange reaction.

"I always knew you were special, this only makes you more special than before." I was startled, usually my abilities caught people off guard, and frightened them. Leave it to Tian to be the one person who sees this as making me 'special'.

He snaked an arm around my waist and pulled me to him. I got lost for a second, enjoying the feeling of being cradled against his chest like I had so long ago. This is what I had wanted for so long wasn't it? What I had been waiting for all those years. And now here he is, and here I am, and I have no idea what to do with myself. That annoyed me a bit, being unsure and lost. I was always certain of what action to take, and now I was presented with a dilemma.

I looked at Tian. The absolute love in his eyes frightened me. Even more so since I could never accept it, there was someone else now in my life.

"Tian," I said while gently, but still firmly, pushing away from his encircling arms, "I'm engaged. You can't go doing things like kissing me and hugging me. You just don't do that to someone who's taken."

He grinned at me, "You're not taken, not yet anyway. As long as you're not married I still have time to get you back. All this means is that I can prove how much I love you. It's a challenge, and you know how much I'm always up for a good challenge." Was he stupid? I let out a sigh. I should have known this was going to happen. Knowing Tian he'd probably have some excuse to kidnap me by the next day.

"Look Tian. I'm happy here, I _like_ it here. Just please, let me be. You can prove how macho and superior you are to Tomite but that won't change my feelings about him." I looked at him, pleading in my eyes, hoping he would understand. His face had gone from joking to serious, and almost sad.

"You loved me once too, and that changed." I wanted to cry, I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes. I couldn't let him see me like this, already I knew that my eyes were giving me away, going to a cloudy blue grey that they usually did when I cry. I got up to go but a hand on my arm stopped me.

"Crin, I'm sorry, I didn't mean that. You know I don't ever mean to hurt you." He paused and I stayed where I was, not facing him but not making an attempt to move either. "There's something else. The reason I was brought back." I turned to face him and was guided back into the chair by his hand on my arm. I noticed how he never let go, even as he continued to speak

"Suzaku told me, before he sent me into your world, that there was a great imbalance. I trust you know all about it." I nodded. "Yes, that's what I thought. Well, you didn't think that just the priestesses of the four gods would have to gather their warriors did you?"

My eyes widened in shock and surprise as I realized what he was saying. "You mean…?"

"Yes Crin, as _the_ priestess of the four gods you need to assemble your warriors as well. And since I'm one of them I was brought back to life and into your world to fulfill this duty. Of course, everyone else is here too. They've all contacted me and will be arriving shortly from China."

Joy bubbled up inside me. To see all my friends again!

"Let's just hope that Mei isn't back to behaving like a spoiled brat. I have even less tolerance for that than I did back then." I said, reminiscing. Tian grimaced at the memory of how the princess of Xi Lang had acted when we had first met her. What he didn't know is that after her palace and home had been destroyed she had acted quite differently, and turned into a ruler who served her people well.

"Well, we better go tell everyone. They'll be happy to know that another batch of celestial warriors is accounted for." I stood and this time Tian didn't hold me back. He too stood and walked behind me.

Before I opened the door inside I heard him say softly; "I meant everything I said, I won't let you go easily. That man had better be ready to fight for you."

Great, another complication I needed in my already way too complicated life. Couldn't a girl just not be involved in a battle to save the universe _and_ a love triangle? Obviously the gods couldn't be fair and limit the angst causing incidences to once a year.

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**Hajimemashite mina! This is Ari once again! It's been a while hasn't it? I think the last time I wrote this much for this story was when I did the chapters of Crin's past. By the way, if you didn't read all that you're probably completely confused right now. You might want to go back and brush up on her past because if you don't you're going to be really **_**really**_** confused.**

**So yeah, I wrote all of this except for the part from Takiko's point of view. I also wrote the one song there that's without a title. I cried as I wrote when she was telling Tian that she couldn't be with him. Since he's a character of my creation it's really sad to have to hurt him like that. Poor Tian, he's such a good guy but he just gets the short end of the stick here. Another thing: Basically I feel like people don't understand Crin, which is a shame! I hope you all get a better understanding of her by reading this chapter and I hope you all see that she isn't just a candy loving airhead. Though I'm probably the only one who will ever understand all her complexities that doesn't mean you shouldn't like her!**

**Enough of my babbling, I really do write too much for author's notes…**

**Please read my Genbu Kaiden story, Reborn. **

**Ari, Out!**


	13. Chapter 13

I sat at the table while Tomite diligently worked on the waffles behind me as I looked up plane tickets. "Limdo's not going to be happy with you two being here; he kind of wanted to spend the day with me…" I told Tomite, but my voice wasn't harsh. I had seen the look on Tomite's face when I'd come into the kitchen. He was obviously worried to death about this whole Crin and Tian thing.

I had no idea that the creepy man who'd woken all of us up was Tian. Sure, I'd seen him, but I'd never expected to ever see him in this century, much less alive, so it had never occurred to me to ask how Crin knew him. Why was he here? How were things going to end up? Crin had told me last night she'd moved on with her life, but would that change now that she'd actually seen him alive and in the flesh?

"Takiko, do you think these are enough waffles for Crin?" I heard Tomite ask, indicating that he hadn't been paying attention to me at all. I turned around and I almost just about died.

The entire counter was filled with waffles.

"I…think you might have made a little too little?" I managed to gasp out sarcastically. Tomite, with a worried expression on his face, nodded and turned around and started to furiously work on making more batter.

"You're absolutely right; this is not enough for her. There must be more! Do you think you could heat those up?" He pointed to a large basket filled to the brim with bottles of syrup.

"Heat them up?" I mumbled, "Does Crin like her syrup heated?"

Tomite shook his head, "You're right; but here," He stopped stirring the batter and opened up a cabinet that, to my surprise, was stuffed with bags of candy of various types. "Dump candy on the plates, please."

I shook my head, feeling a little numb. "I actually think you're going overboard with this whole thing," I informed him, "Crin loves you; you don't need to impress her with tons of waffles. I'm sure this Tian guy now understands that she's yours and he'll probably be happy for you two," I told him.

"Psh, who says I'm doing this to impress her? I'm just giving her what she wants, that's all. There's no attempt at impressing her, none at all!" I rolled my eyes; Tomite was really bad at hiding his motives.

Two things happened at once then; the door to the back yard opened and Tian and Crin stepped in while Limdo –shirtless, but wearing pants while putting up his hair into a pony tail—ran down the stairs. "Takiko, why haven't you come back up…" he stopped just when Tian and Crin stopped, all three of them staring at one another.

"Crin," Tian's voice sounded tense and disbelieving, "how many guys to you have?"

Both Crin and Limdo looked like they wanted to throw up. "EW NO!" Crin shouted, "Don't you pay ANY mind to him; he's just stupid."

"I have a name, you know!" Limdo snarled irritably, walking to my side.

"Why couldn't you just introduce him as my husband, Crin?" I sighed, not really in the mood to fight against all of this. I turned to Limdo and wrapped my arms around him, "I'm so sorry love; apparently Crin and Tomite decided to stay over last night and…well…um…I haven't exactly had the time to properly introduce myself," I let go of Limdo and turned to face Tomite, plastering a polite smile on my face as I stuck my hand out to him. It took him a moment to notice, because he was staring at the mountains of waffles lining the counters, but he quickly noticed it. "Hi, I'm Takiko Roun," It still felt so good to use Limdo's name as my own.

Before I could continue on, Crin said, "She's the priestess of Genbu."

Tian smiled at Takiko and took her hand and shook it. "Nice to meet you, Priestess of Genbu; I'm the Suzaku warrior."

"Please, just Takiko." I laughed and motioned to Limdo. "This is my husband Limdo Roun…he's one of my warriors as well." Limdo stuck out his hand, trying to put a grin on his face. Unfortunately he was still a little upset over the intruders into his house.

"You're half-naked," Tian commented matter-of-factly. "Aren't you cold?"

Limdo stared at him in complete disbelief. "Um…not...not really…" He mumbled.

I couldn't help but burst out laughing. Tian had just been stating the fact that yes, my husband had no shirt on, and Limdo, who hadn't been expecting it, had this completely embarrassed expression on his face. "You should probably get a shirt on Limdo," Crin commented, "Only idiots go around shirtless."

"No; this is my house, I'll do whatever I want in my house! Besides, I'm too sexy for my shirt." Limdo growled irritably.

Crin snorted, "I don't think so,"

"I hate you," Limdo snapped.

"I hate you," Crin replied back. They glared daggers at one another as I turned and walked over to the couch in the entertainment room that was connected to the kitchen where there were piles of clothes on the couch. I snatched a black shirt and went back to Limdo and held it out to him.

"But…but…" Limdo protested.

"You can leave your shirt off whenever no one is around," I whispered to him, "But right now, let's keep the shirt on, please." Limdo grumbled something under his breath but nevertheless took the black t-shirt and slipped it on over his head.

"Now you look somewhat decent," Crin teased.

"Shut up Crin," Limdo growled as he pecked my cheek and left my side, going over to the table and sitting down.

"Um," Tian was obviously lost. Frankly, I didn't even know why they hated each other. Sometimes I wondered if it was just to push each other's buttons. If Crin really hated his guts, I don't think she'd sneak into my house to sleep there.

"We don't know either Tian," I rolled my eyes at him, "You kind of get used to it." I turned around just in time to find Tomite standing there with a plate of fresh waffles. "You, uh, remember Tomite; he too is one of my warriors."

There was a tense moment between the two men, but after a moment Tomite managed to smile softly. "Nice to…meet you," He mumbled, but he didn't bother to stick his hand out. Instead, he turned to me and handed me the plate of waffles. "For you, Takiko,"

"Oh," I said, a bit surprised; he'd actually remembered that he wasn't just cooking for Crin. "Thanks Tomite," I turned back to Tian and smiled awkwardly. "Tomite's kind of our…special chief. His food is _delicious_."

Tian glanced at Tomite and nodded. "Nice," was all he said. I glanced at Crin questionably, and she shook her head, mouthing 'I'll tell you later'.

"Crin," Tomite suddenly spoke up, getting her attention, "Those waffles are for you," He pointed over to the counter full of waffles and Crin's expression brightened.

"Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaafffffllleeeeessssssssss……….." Crin drooled as she left our little group and started to gather up plates, "I loooooooooooooveeeeeeeeee waaaaaaaaaffffllllleeeeeeeessssssss……"

"I know you do Crin," Tomite laughed, pulling out the many bottles of syrup, "I got you syrup too,"

Crin looked like she was going to die of happiness. She put her plates on the table—Limdo, of course, looked irritated that he hadn't gotten his food, but said nothing in protest—and bolted to Tomite's side, quickly pecked him on the lips in appreciation as she took the basket of syrup from him and then skipped back to the table, singing "I love waffles, I love waffles, I love waffles," over and over again.

We all watched her pour the pounds and pounds of syrup on the waffles and start digging in. I cleared my throat and smiled awkwardly at an obviously not-too-happy Tian. "Well, Crin's got a bit of an appetite….good thing she's got a lightning fast metabolism. How about those waffles?" I awkwardly went to sit by my husband and poured a little bit of syrup on my waffles before awkwardly digging in, watching Tian silently sit down across from Crin, obviously in deep thought.

After a moment Tomite put a plate in front of Limdo who thanked him and started to dig in as well. As Tomite headed back to the counter, he casually asked over his shoulder, "How many waffles do you want Tian?"

"…Two." Tian muttered, staring at Crin incredulously. "How is that even possible?" He whispered to himself; Crin had already finished half of the waffles.

In a few minutes, Tomite was setting the two waffles in front of Tian. Tian merely stared at them. "You know Tian," Crin finally said, one of her cheeks puffing out from the waffles she'd stuffed in, "You should really try some of these; they're so delicious. Tomite, you really should go get a job as a chief…I bet you could even cook for the president!"

Tomite laughed as he too sat down with his waffles next to Crin and kissed her cheek. "We'll see Crin," he told her.

Tian said nothing, only stared at the waffles. After a moment, he grumbled, "Shouldn't you tell the Priestess of Genbu something?"

That seemed to snap Crin out of her little la-la land. "Oh, Takiko; I have something I need to tell you!"

Suddenly a DING! Sounded from over on the counter. "Oh, the last waffle is ready," Tomite muttered more to himself as he got up and headed to the counter.

Both Limdo and Crin snapped their heads towards the counter, their eyes wide with excitement. "IT'S MINE!" They shouted at the same time. The moment they heard the other say that, they whirled to face one another. "NO, IT'S MINE!" Crin yelled, standing up angrily in her seat.

"MY house, MY waffle maker, therefore, MY waffle!" Limdo shot back. They continued to argue about the waffle as Tomite—who ignored them as usual; although Tian just kind of sat there, not knowing what exactly he was supposed to do—took the waffle out.

My eyes darted between them before finally I sighed and stood up. "Gunnar," I called. Soon I heard the pitter patter of puppy paws scraping on the tile and before I knew it, Gunnar was looking up at me with his cute chocolate brown eyes as though to say, "Yes? I know, I'm cute…love me."

I went over to Tomite, took the plate with the waffle on it, and put it on the floor. Gunnar instantly started to gulp it down. The moment Gunnar started to do this, both Limdo and Crin groaned in defeat. "Ew, now it's got doggie drool all over it," Crin grumbled as she sat back down.

"Stupid dog," was all Limdo said.

I smiled up at them innocently. "So what were you going to tell me, Crin?" I asked as though I hadn't just fed the dog the last waffle. Hey, the problem was solved, right? What more could I ask for?

Crin's expression brightened up instantly as she shoved another waffle into her mouth. "Oh, oh yes—apparently my warriors were reincarnated as well, and I need to get them all back here as well…"

"What?" I gasped out, my eyes locking on Limdo's, who'd frozen in mid-bite. I knew we were both thinking the same thing; _you mean this isn't almost over with?_

I almost felt like screaming in frustration.

Crin instantly caught onto what I was thinking, because she sobered up, reaching over to take my hand gently. "It's not what you're thinking Takiko; calm down before you give yourself a heart attack." She let go of my hand and sat back up straighter, addressing all of us now—except Tian who looked like he knew what was going on, which he probably did. "My warriors have already gathered in the past year. They're all ready to fly over here from China—Tian just came over earlier because…well, because he did." I had a feeling that both Crin and I knew the real reason, but I didn't care to mention it. I was pretty sure Tian came to not only tell her of her mission, but also to try to get back together with her.

Look how that turned out.

"Well," I finally said after a long uncomfortable silence. "Since they're coming, we obviously need to make sure you people have somewhere to live."

"The other warriors are getting a motel." Tian answered me.

I nodded, "And you?" Tian hesitated and the answer became clear to me—he obviously thought he could just move in with Crin. But once again, that was before he knew about Tomite. I nodded, "I think I have somewhere for you to stay."

Limdo's eyes flashed back to me as though to warn me not to invite him to stay with us; Limdo wanted the house to ourselves now that we were married, and I didn't blame him. I knew that I couldn't have anyone live with us anymore, not if I wanted to get husband-wife moments alone with him. "You can live with the boys in the apartment."

Both Crin and Tomite looked at me as though I were insane. "Down….downstairs? You want him to live downstairs?" Crin asked her eyes wide. "He doesn't know anyone there though!" but by the way she was glancing at Tomite, I knew what she was really thinking—she didn't want Tomite and Tian to kill each other.

"She's right, he doesn't! Besides, there aren't any more spare rooms!" Tomite agreed.

I shrugged. "Then he'll get to make some new friends. It'll be like a college roommate. Besides, you're the only one left with a room all to yourself, right? The others are sharing—you can too." Tomite's jaw dropped open in shock and Crin looked paler than a piece of paper.

Tian cleared his throat, "If it's going to make you guys uncomfortable…" I snapped a glare at him.

"I don't think you understand," I clarified, "not only are you a warrior, but you are one of Crin's…" I paused, thinking of a way to word it, "friends. I'm not going to have you living out in the dumps. Do you even have any more money left over?" Tian's blush was as good of an answer as I'd get, I decided. "I thought so. So you're going to listen to me and you're going to go live with them." I snapped a glare at Tomite and Crin, "And you're all going to welcome him. Otherwise you'll deal with me."

Everyone stared at me with wide eyes, Limdo especially. The other's were getting used to me taking charge like this, but Limdo, who'd been gone, was obviously surprised. In a way, I was a little surprised myself. But if I hadn't taken charge, we would have gotten nowhere.

Finally Crin nodded. "She's in charge," she told Tian, facing him, "what she says goes." Tian's eyebrows raised and even I gave her a funny look. She shrugged. "Well, it's true in a way. I mean, she was the one who was given the direct order to do this thing in the first place. Genbu has made it clear that it's her in charge of this operation, and since you are a warrior and I am a priestess, I technically have to listen to her." She paused, her gaze turning into a warning, "But I get to manipulate everything else, got it?"

I raised my eyebrows. "And what would you like to manipulate, Crin?" I asked her.

Crin stared at me for a long time, her expression serious. And then slowly a large grin formed on her face. "I want the pool filled with chocolate," her words released the tension in the room and I laughed.

"We'll see," I snickered.

KKK

I locked the door to the training room—Limdo wasn't a big fan of Crin training me to fight, so I had to lock the door so that he wouldn't barge in and watch or get mad if I got hurt in the slightest way—and sighed, turning around to face Crin. The reason for this lesson however, was not to actually train. The reason was for Crin to talk to me in private.

Although that didn't stop her from beating a punching bag to death. "I don't know what to do, Takiko," Crin huffed, sending a flying kick into the punching bag. "I mean…I wasn't expecting this!"

"I don't think anything's expected Crin," I calmly said, watching her punch the bag as it swung back to her.

"Maybe," she huffed, "but…" She stopped punching the bag and whirled to look at me. "He was supposed to be dead, Takiko. I held him as he died—I didn't think he'd ever be reincarnated! Genbu never said anything about this!"

"He never does," I pointed out.

Crin nodded in agreement, "True—do you think he forgets to mention it?"

"Maybe—but it's not an excuse."

Crin sighed and delivered a powerful punch to the bag. "But I mean…what about Tomite?"

"What about him?"

Crin gave me an incredulous look, "Well, it's bound to be awkward,"

I nodded, "Yes,"

"And I'm supposed to get married to him!"

"Did you talk to Tian about it?" Crin was silent for a long time, delivering punch after punch after kick after kick to the bag. Poor bag—it was getting abused by Crin's frustration.

"Yes," She finally answered.

"What did he say?" Crin stopped punching, staring down at the floor.

"He's going to fight for me till I say 'I do' to Tomite." I sighed, leaning back against the door.

"So we're in a pickle," I muttered.

Crin nodded. "Or a candy cane."

I gave her a funny look, because I'd never heard that term before, but I didn't say anything against it. "Look…you do understand that there's nowhere else for him to go, right?"Crin didn't look at me, but she nodded silently. "I don't know what to do about this situation, because I've never been in it. But…you told me that you were going to chose Tomite, and…well, whoever you end up choosing in the end, if the other one really loves you, he'll let you go when its time. But I don't blame Tian for wanting to fight for you; if I was in his situation, I'd fight to the end as well. But…I'd also let you go when the time came."

"But how would you feel about it afterwards?" Crin asked.

I shrugged, "I'd hate it…but I'd move on with my life. I might never give you up in my heart, but I'd still want you to be happy. Which is what you should want for yourself. Whoever you end up with, do it because it's who you want to be with, not because you feel bad for them. You've been forced to take care of others your entire life—heck, look what you've done for me! You pulled me through my hard, crazy time, now I'm here to pull you through." I sighed, "I have no idea if I made any sense," I mumbled more to myself.

Crin laughed, "You did," She assured me, "And…thanks. It doesn't quite make my situation easier, but I didn't expect you to be able to. But it's nice to know I have an un-involved party to confide in." I grinned.

"So about your warriors," I said, changing the subject. Crin raised her eyebrows, waiting for me to continue on. "I'm already paying for the Byakko warriors tickets. If they need plane tickets, you're going to pay for them."

Crin smiled, "Oh goodie…and then I can buy a truck load of candy."

"Sure Crin, sure."

K**KKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK**

**LOL, this chapter amused me greatly, and I know that the chapters in the future are going to amuse me as well because Tomite and Tian are going to go at it. WHOO! **

**Sorry I haven't updated for a while--I've just been really busy. **

**REVIEW!**

**Love,**

**Alice**


	14. Chapter 14

I'd sort of hoped, after yesterday's events, that things would go back to normal. But no, apparently life seemed to love throwing curve balls at me. Because the next afternoon, after calling a meeting with my warriors and the Byakko warriors I had, I sat on my couch with my lap top, looking up plane tickets for the Suzaku and Seriyu warriors and their priestesses while waiting for my warriors to arrive. Crin, who as usual, showed up with Tomite early—with poor Tian tagging along although he looked exhausted—was sitting on the other couch, ignoring poor Tian as he sat in a chair on the opposite side of the coffee table, half asleep with boredom.

That's when the doorbell rang.

"OH, I'LL GET IT!" Crin cried, jumping up and running for the door before either of us could say anything. When she reached the door she stopped, running a hand over her dress—which Tian was eyeing warily—and opened the door. "Why, hello…OH MY CRUD IT'S STUPID FACE!" She suddenly shouted, lunging back from the door and crouching in a defensive position.

Instantly I had pushed my lap top onto the table and stood, ready to run to the hallway closet where I kept my gun if needed. But Tian didn't seem to get the message. "Must you call everyone either stupid face or idiot?"

Crin slightly glanced over her shoulder, "If they deserve it, yes—and this guy definitely deserves it."

"Hey look, Crin," A familiar, heart-stopping, ice cold voice drifted from the door, making me freeze in place—Hagus. "There's candy behind you."

Crin psh-ed, "Like I'd ever fall for that,"

At that moment Tomite, who'd been in the kitchen with my husband, walked in, a tray of cookies on a plate, "Crin, I made you some morning…" He stopped, seeing who was at the door, his jaw dropping in shock. For a moment he stood there, gaping at Hagus before he frowned and set the cookies on the coffee table. "Great, it's stupid face." Tomite grumbled, crossing his arms.

Hagus ignored the reactions of Crin and Tomite and proceeded to step into my house, closing the door behind him. "I love the manners of your," he eyed Crin warily, _"Friends_, priestess."

Crin snorted, "We're not the one's barging in uninvited," she pointed out—I refrained from pointing out the fact that she actually did do that all the time.

It was then that the kitchen door opened and in came Limdo, the cherry that would top off this big mess. "Takiko, who's at the door—Takiko, why in the WORLD is Hagus here?" Limdo was instantly by Crin's side, and had changed into his woman form, ready to defend if Hagus made a threatening move.

I watched as Hagus rolled his eyes and Tian, who had never seen Limdo in his woman form, do a double take. "It's a personal quirk," I told him, trying to throw on a smile.

Tian shook his head, "I think it's more than a personal quirk," he mumbled. For once I agreed with him.

Obviously the situation was getting out of hand quickly, so I cleared my throat, drawing the attention to myself—except for Limdo and Crin, who were still in defense mode. Instantly everyone's attention snapped to me, including Hagus' frightening, cold, blue-eyed stare. I suddenly didn't feel so confident anymore—I looked down at my toes for a brief second before I looked back up at the others. "What, may I ask, are you doing here?" I asked my voice quiet with no trace of negative emotion in my voice.

Hagus looked at me for a long time before he answered, "My brother—where is my brother?"

At first his question surprised me, but then I remembered that we'd rescued him recently. "He's coming over right now; he's living with the guys."

"You have two houses?" Hagus scoffed.

"The boys are living in my old apartment. I'm a married woman now—I couldn't have all of my warriors living at my house, otherwise we'd never get some peace and quiet." Hagus smiled the smallest smile and nodded his head.

"Well then. Has he decided whether or not to join your group?" I nodded and watched as Hagus registered that, his expression becoming contemplative.

"And what do you plan to do about it?" I asked, my heart beating loudly in my chest. Hagus was the only warrior I needed; once I had him, I would have all of my warriors and we'd be another step closer to ending this madness.

Hagus was silent for a long moment before he sighed. "There is no choice; I will not fight against my brother. I will join you, only because he joins you…"

"You could be grateful you know," Crin snapped angrily, "She put her life in danger in order to save your brother, you should not only be thanking her but you should be pledging your absolute loyalty to her!"

Hagus' eyebrows furrowed as his gaze narrowed at her. "I'm joining your team, aren't I?" he snapped.

"Like that fixes everything you've done to my wife," Limdo snarled.

"Let it go you two," I finally snapped, growing impatient with the conversation. "If he wants to join, he can; in fact all of us know that it's preferable." My gaze hardened as I looked each of the warriors (and priestess) in the eye. "And all of you will treat each other civilly…that means you Crin."

Crin looked slightly offended, "So that means that I can't throw an axe at his head?" She questioned, making all of us stare at her incredulously.

"No Crin, that isn't civil." I reminded her patiently.

"How about a brick?"

"No."

"A flaming pillow?"

"No,"

"Candy?"

"Crin, I said no!" I said firmly, indicating that the discussion was over. Crin sighed in defeat, but the spark of mischievousness didn't leave her eyes. Better make sure she doesn't try anything, I mentally noted before turning back to the discussion at hand.

But Hagus was already continuing on as though no one had said anything. "But just because I'm joining you does not mean I'm going to be hanging around here all the time."

I nodded my head in understanding. "Understood," I said, "I don't expect you too, as long as you're here when I need you to be."

Hagus nodded, "I'll give you my cell number and apartment address before I leave. Which brings me to another matter," I tensed, waiting for what he was about to say. "Where does Tegu stay?"

I blinked in surprise; I hadn't expected him to ask that question. I had sort of expected to give Tegu one of the spare rooms at the apartment, only to realize that the apartment was now filled to capacity. "Well, he could stay in the mansion I guess…" that earned me a hiss of protest from Limdo.

"I don't think your husband wants to give up any more 'alone time' with you than he already has to." Hagus mused in what I supposed was his form of amusement—if Hagus was capable of feeling such an emotion.

"Well we already need to discuss future living arrangements today in our meeting," I grumbled, shooting him a glare, "He knows as well as I do that there's nothing we can do about it."

"I'm not sure I want Tegu to be in a place filled with a bunch of strangers," Hagus started, but I interrupted.

"But we're not strangers, if you'll recall you two were with us for the last part of our journey in the world of the book…"

"He doesn't know Crin," Hagus pointed out, "or…that man," he said, pointing to Tian, "Or any of the other warriors of the other Priestesses. You know as well as I do that he doesn't do well with strangers, especially so many at a time."

I scowled, knowing he was right. It didn't help that once again most of his life he'd once again been captured by the crazy wakos in the Roun clan. "So what, he stays with you? I highly doubt your apartment is a place for children. How many lethal weapons do you have in there?"

"I do not leave my weapons lying out on the counter priestess," Hagus snapped, rolling his eyes, "they're locked up in a hidden safe." I still wasn't convinced; even though Hagus and Tegu were brothers, I still wasn't comfortable leaving Tegu in his care. Seeing my uncertainty, Hagus sighed. "What if I took him to your apartment every morning at nine? That way I can have him with me at night and you can make sure I'm not scaring him for life or something during the day."

I considered that, glancing at Limdo to see what he thought. By the look in his silver eyes, I could tell that he didn't see anything wrong with it. But instead of agreeing, I shook my head. "I guess it would be fine, but I would like to hear what Tegu wants." As I said that, we listened as a car pulled up in the driveway. "Well speak of the devil," I mumbled, ignoring Limdo's and Crin's warning looks and shoving past Hagus to get to the front door.

I opened it and walked out into the front yard where Hikitsu was getting out of the car, the other doors opening. "Tegu, where's Tegu?" I demanded before he was even fully out off the car.

"Uh, he's right here…" Hikitsu started and a moment later Tegu stepped out of the back of the car, peering at me curiously.

"What is the matter Lady Priestess?" Tegu asked as I approached him, kneeling so that I was face to face with him.

"Tegu remember that you don't have to call me that," I whispered, ruffling his hair with my hand. By his request we'd gotten it cut for him and it was now short and spiked.

He grinned that boyish grin of his, reminding me just how young, innocent and fragile he was. It still made me angry to think of what Temdan had done to him all those years before I'd rescued him again. "But I like calling you Priestess,"

"Okay then, you can call me whatever you like." I ruffled his hair again and then continued onto the matter at hand. "Your brother is inside waiting for you," I hardly had the words out and he had instantly pulled away, a huge smile on his face as he rushed past me and in through the open door behind us.

I sighed and shook my head. Typical. Abandoning me for his stupid older brother.

"What was that all about?" Hikitsu asked, approaching me, "Oh and by the way I think Crin and Tomite are here already, you might want to check your rooms…"

"They are. Crin and Limdo almost killed Hagus and Tomite already made breakfast cookies." I replied tiredly.

"Hagus is here? Has he joined?" I nodded my head.

"He won't be staying with us and won't meet with us until the actual battle, however." I told him solemnly.

"Good," Hikitsu grumbled just as the other car with the girls pulled into the long drive way. "I never really liked him anyways."

I stood back up and, after waiting for the girls to get out of the car we turned and headed back into the house, where Tegu was sitting on the couch talking to his brother in hushed tones.

The rest of the room stood in complete awkward silence.

"If all of you will make your way to the meeting room, it would very much be appreciated." I ordered, startling four other warriors in the room. For a moment everyone stood there, glancing from me to the two brothers on the couch to me again before hesitantly they began to make their way up the stairs.

Except for Crin and Limdo, and because they stayed Tomite and Tian stayed as well, both of them inching closer to Crin's side. Crin didn't seem to notice their presence until, in an effort to be as close to her as possible, they were on either side of her. "Um, do either of you know the meaning of the words 'personal space'?" Crin snapped and hesitantly they backed up, but only a few paces.

"I meant all of you." I sighed, but once again none of them listened. Instead Limdo came to my side, wrapping one arm protectively around me. In other words, _"There is no way I'm leaving you down here alone with Hagus"._ Probably a wise decision, but if I needed to I knew I could have gone and fetched my gun from the near by closet.

We all waited there, all of us uncomfortable and tense before finally Tegu got up and came to stand before me, a serious look in his eyes. "I promise, Priestess, that I will serve you diligently, but my place is with my brother. It has always been with my brother." I knew that. Of course I knew that. It just made me uncomfortable to think of Tegu in such a bland environment.

But there was nothing I could do about that if it was what he wanted. If I were to take it up in a court of law, I would lose because Hagus was his brother and could technically take care of him.

"Alright," I found myself saying through numb lips before I turned my attention back to Hagus who was standing, a smug look in his eyes. "I want a phone call from him at least once a night and if he sounds the least bit upset, I will drag him from the apartment myself. Don't think I won't!"

"After the past few months, I do not doubt you when you say you'll do something." Hagus said, and Limdo tensed beside me. I quickly put a comforting hand on his chest.

"If you try to run, I will help her by tracking you down." Crin added as an afterthought and I threw a grateful glance her way…which she missed because she was still glaring daggers at Hagus, who paid her no mind.

"I know you will Crin, but I have pledged my loyalty to Takiko and I mean to keep it. Here's my cell number." He pulled a card from his pocket and flipped it onto the coffee table before turning and heading out the door.

Tegu stood there for a moment, staring after his brother before looking back up at me. "Please do not be angry Priestess; I wish for this."

"I know you do, and I'm not angry as long as you're happy." I leaned down and gave him a hug, "You call me if he's being stupid, do you hear?"

"Of course," He hugged me back before he too pulled away, turned and ran out the door after his brother.

Takiko wanted children. That much was obvious after viewing the situation between Hagus and his brother Tegu. Crin had seen that look in many women's eyes throughout the years as they looked upon other mother's and their children. Although Hagus was hardly the mother type, he still had his brother and raised him practically like a father.

And Takiko, whether she'd admit it or not, wanted to experience that feeling. Perhaps that was the real reason she wanted Tegu to stay with her.

And what about me? Crin wondered as she sat down that night in Takiko's back yard by the pool, looking into the lit up water. What do I want? She loved Tomite, but with Tian here she knew he wasn't going to make it easy for her to be with Tomite. He was going to fight for her love, and now that he'd sort of adjusted to this group's strange ways, he was probably comfortable enough to start.

She groaned and rubbed her forehead. Tomite, on the other hand, had been making it clear that she was his fiancée with the way he talked to her, the way he touched her and the way he treated her. He had not yet said much about Tian's arrival, but she knew that it was soon to come.

The meeting had become quite uncomfortable because, as Crin and Takiko purchased tickets for the warriors and the two other priestesses, as a group they discussed the living arrangements until the final battle was over with. When Takiko pointed out that there was no more room in the apartments and that she wasn't about to have them sleep on the floor since they were sacrificing a lot to come and fight (apparently Miaka had children and Yui was engaged), the atmosphere immediately intensified when she proposed that they open up their house to their guests. Limdo almost had a heart attack and Takiko had to pull him out into the hall to have a 'husband and wife' talk. It was both cute and uncomfortable at the same time.

Right now most of the warriors had gone home to go to bed, but Tian and Tomite were inside with Takiko and Limdo, watching Live Free or Die Hard. An epic movie, one that Crin had started to watch, but when she'd sat down on the couch, Tomite and Tian had sat on either side of her, both of them shoulder to shoulder with her, making her feel like she was losing air. When Tomite reached over to take her hand, Tian tried to take her other hand, and she immediately claimed she needed to pee and instead bolted out the back door.

She didn't know how much longer she could take this. She only hoped they could find the last three warriors quickly.

Suddenly the back door opened, bringing Crin out of her thoughts as she whirled around, her face white as a sheet. She didn't know who to expect; an enemy, Tian, or even Takiko (she sort of hoped it was Takiko) but instead it was Tomite.

They stared at one another for a while, neither one of them saying anything. Finally when the silence became too uncomfortable to bear, Crin cleared her throat. "Is the movie done with?" she asked quietly.

"No, not even close." Tomite replied with a smile, but the expression didn't touch his eyes. He sighed and walked over to the pool side, where he crouched and looked into the depths of the water. Takiko had a pretty deep pool.

"What are you doing?" Crin asked, "Did you need some air or something?"

Tomite shrugged. "Something like that." And before Crin could respond, he reached his fingertips into the water until just the tips were immersed and before her very eyes he began to freeze the pool.

"What in the world...you can't freeze Takiko's pool!" Crin hissed, wondering what had gotten into Tomite; maybe he'd gone crazy after all….

"And you're not supposed to fill her pool with pudding either. Do you know how much money it takes to fix that?"

"Yes, because she makes me pay for it."

"Exactly. This will melt by tomorrow; it is August you know." Crin bit her lip nervously as he continued to freeze the pool until it was completely solid and smooth, looking almost like a mini ice rink. He drew his finger tips away and looked up at her, a mischievous glint in his eyes. "Come here."

"What?" Crin squeaked, a blush rising onto her face.

"Come here; I'm not going to bite." Hesitating, Crin inched her way towards him and as soon as she was close enough Tomite reached out and picked up one of her boots, making her yelp as she tried to catch her balance.

"What in the world are you DOING?" Crin cried, trying to look down to see what it was he was doing to her boot.

"You know how to skate, right?" he asked instead, and when he let go of her boot she could feel that no longer was her boot just a shoe; he'd used ice to create a blade that attached onto her shoe.

Realizing what he was doing, Crin blushed furiously, "Tomite…Takiko's going to kill you…"

"And when has that ever stopped you before?" He asked, reaching out to take her other boot and repeat the process. Crin let him, despite the nervous feeling in the pit of her stomach, something she had not felt around Tomite since the very first time she'd laid eyes on him. "Besides," he grumbled as he finished up her other boot/skate, "You would have gladly taken me up on his offer before Tian came around."

Crin's face flushed but this time with anger as she pulled her foot out of his grasp. It was a good thing he'd finished; otherwise she might have been lopsided. "Don't talk that way Tomite, you know it's not that way! Besides, it's not like Tian ever did anything to you…"

"Except try to steal my fiancée."

"Well maybe I won't go ice skating with you…" Crin started but Tomite grasped her hand firmly and yet gently.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, "I didn't mean…" he sighed and shook his head, letting go of her hand to begin his own shoes, and Crin watched in silence as he used ice to form a blade on the bottom of his own shoes. "I don't want….I just want to be with you right now."

She couldn't help it; she wanted to stay mad at him, but when he talked like that, her heart melted. So instead of leaving she stepped onto the ice, trying to look comfortable with the situation when inside she knew that if Tian were to look out the window he'd…well, she didn't know what he'd think.

She twirled around in circles for a while until Tomite finished and got up to join her. At first they skated in silence, but eventually Tomite stopped and reached into the pocket of his jeans. "It's a little quiet for my taste, don't you think?" Crin stopped as well, her orange eyes (for suspicion) studying him as he pulled out Takiko's universal remote and pressed a button. Immediately Takiko's speakers that were disguised cleverly as rocks began to softly play Norah Jones' "Don't know why".

And then Tomite turned his gaze to meet hers and the world seemed to melt away. No longer were her thoughts on Tian, only on the man who stood before her; the man, she realized, who she still loved, even if Tian was there, trying to steal her heart away. She was different now, she realized, and though she didn't know this man like she knew Tian, she loved him nevertheless.

So she didn't say anything in objection when he skated forward until they were toe to toe, their bodies so close she could feel his aura surround her. Her breathing accelerated with her heart beat as he leaned even closer until his forehead pressed against hers. "I love you," he whispered, taking her hand in his as his other hand went to her waist.

They skated slowly to the music in a small circle, neither one of them breaking eye contact, their faces so close that Crin knew if she just leaned forward her lips would touch his. But she didn't attempt it; she instead let him lead and when he finally leaned in and brushed his lips against hers, the desire she'd held back for so long released and she was kissing him deeper, passionately, as though letting him go would make him disappear. And she couldn't handle that, not now. Now she knew that Tian, though he was back and though she loved him for so long, those feelings didn't matter anymore. All that mattered was that this man, the man she kissed now, was all hers, and that she loved him and he loved her back.

When they broke for air, Crin leaned her forehead against Tomite's, their labored breathing mingling together. "I love you too, more than you'll ever know."

"I trust you Crin," and Crin knew why he said that. There was no need to discuss it further. Whatever worries they'd had about their relationship when Tian had come into the picture, they were gone now. She wasn't worried about falling out of love with Tomite and he wasn't worried that he'd lose her to Tian. "No matter what happens, I will always trust you."

"Will you?" Crin whispered back, and was answered by Tomite's kiss. She kissed him back, her lips melting with his…

"Tomite," the horribly familiar voice caused both of them to pull away, and Crin whirled to find Tian standing there, face expressionless, hands dug deep into his pockets. Realization of how this looked (and how it was) dawned on her and she tried to put a little physical distance between she and Tomite, but Tomite's grasp on her was firm, making it clear that he didn't care about hurting Tian's feelings as much as she did. And though, in some way, that angered her, she knew it was understandable.

But Tian certainly didn't seem to see it that way.

"It's time to go." And with that, without another word, Tian whirled and headed back into the house.

****

**LOL in other words; "It's on." **

**Sorry its taken me so long. I got writer's block for a while and then...welll, honestly the begining of this chapter bored me. I did enjoy Crin and Tomite's little 'moment'; I needed a good romance moment.**

**In other news, I FINISHED ANOTHER NOVEL! :D It took me four years to write it since it's set in Medieval Ireland so a lot of research had to be put into it. So that also occupied much of my attention. **

**I now know how I'm going to end this thing. I think I'm going to knock out the last three warriors in one scene just because otherwise it would take forever and I'm sort of...well, I've sort of moved on from this story, though I love it. I've already started writing a 'next generation' story that's pretty epic, and I'm debating on whether or not to publish it on this website. I have big plans for it and its going to be amazingly epic. **

**And I'm waiting for Ch. 32 of the original story! D: HURRY UP YUU WATASE! **

**Love always, **

**Alice**

**P.S. Ari finally updated her story, Reborn, so GO READ IT! D: **


	15. Chapter 15

It became very clear to me that the atmosphere between Crin, Tomite and Tian had intensified. Tomite, however, didn't act so possessive of Crin; instead he merely stood by her side, not even seeming to care whenever Tian came close enough to brush Crin's hand with his own.

And he was certainly doing a lot of that.

It had been days since Hagus had joined our team, thus making the Genbu clan complete, much to my relief. Tegu had stayed true to his word, calling me every night to talk to me and assure me that Hagus wasn't trying to teach him how to blow up a building or something. But I still couldn't help but worry about him.

But today was a special day; today, after we shot Crin's music video, we would head over to the air port to pick up the Suzaku and Seriyu clans, and by the way that Yui had requested we book her warriors on a separate flight, I had a feeling we were in for a very interesting next few weeks.

We all stood at the side lines, watching as Crin ran through her music video for about the 278937598375 time (was that even a number?). I stood next to Limdo, who bounced on the balls of his feet impatiently. "How many more times does she have to do this?" He demanded in a stage whisper, causing some of the camera technicians to shoot glares at us.

"I don't know, now why don't you go eat something at the food table?" I hissed back, nodding my head to the large table full of food. Limdo sighed irritably and, after giving my cheek a quick peck turned and headed towards the food table.

I turned back to the set. Crin wore a black frilly dress and fish nets with some pretty killer-looking boots. In her hair, which was pulled back and in ringlets as usual, was a black rose. About twenty shirtless men danced around her, which in a way was sort of comical. But when I glanced at Tomite to see if I could read his thoughts on the matter, he looked completely calm, as though none of this bothered him.

It probably helped that a bunch of these guys were foreign and hardly spoke a word of English, so Crin couldn't exactly 'bond' with any of them unless she wanted to learn an entire language.

Tian on the other hand looked like he was about to have a heart attack.

I'm starting to believe, boy  
That this was meant to be, boy  
Cause I believe in karma  
Boy, do you believe in karma?

So forget about your past life  
Cause this could be our last life  
We're gonna reach nirvana  
Boy, we're gonna be reach nirvana

Chorus

Each time you put your lips to mine  
Its like a taste of Buddha's delight  
I see the gates of paradise  
You're a taste of Buddha's delight  
Tell me all your fantasies tonight  
And I will make them happen  
Cause I'm not satisfied if I don't get my Buddha's delight

Om Shanti Shanti(2X)

Like sitting meditation  
You give me elevation  
Can you take me higher?  
I wonder, can you take me higher?  
I want a revelation and sweet salvation  
and the eternal fire  
Show me the eternal fire

Chorus

I've got to have my Buddha's delight  
Om Shanti Shanti  
I've got to have my Buddha's delight  
Om Shanti Shanti

Chorus

la la la

"That's a wrap!" The director shouted and I couldn't help but smile a little. Oh the strange things those directors in the music world said during rehearsals. Briefly I wondered who came up with the sayings in the first place as I walked to where Crin was, fanning herself off with one of the scripts that she'd taken from a random worker.

"Hey," I greeted, "Hurry up and get dressed so that we can go get the…ah…our friends." Crin caught my slip and quirked an eyebrow before grinning.

"Can I have candy afterwards?"

"Sure Crin, whatever you say Crin." I rolled my eyes, but I couldn't help but smile. It had been a while since she'd cracked a candy comment. "I'll meet you at the food table. Do you want me to grab you something?"

"Anything with sugar!" Crin giggled before skipping away. I watched her move away, past Tomite, who she quickly brushed against and he smiled and walked over towards where I stood.

"Crin wants some of those cookies." Tomite said as he began walking with me over to the food table where Limdo was already putting food on a plate (like we didn't already have a bunch of food at our house, what with Tomite always stocking us up with food).

"I know."

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Crin looked herself over in the floor length mirror in her dressing room. Though she'd liked the style of the black dress, she'd never been one for all black…unless she was going on a top secret mission. But because all she was about to do was pick up her warriors, whom she hadn't seen for a few thousand years, from the air port, she didn't insist that she needed this outfit.

Though it would be fun to do a mission in that outfit.

Crin shook the thought from her head and looked herself over. She wore her frilly pink and white dress and she'd exchanged her killer black boots (which she had insisted on keeping—they were pretty sexy) for a pair of white knee-high boots. No longer did she have dark, smoky make up, but lighter make up that made her look less like a raccoon but more like herself.

At least the person she was now. For the second time in the past week she wondered what her warriors would think of her. She had changed significantly since the book, and not just in style. Today's reunion was both anticipated and dreaded at the same time.

Crin sighed a heavy sigh and grabbed the black boots before heading out the door into the hallway. She pushed her way through the back stage workers that were going back and forth between sets, talking into their headsets and looking down at their clipboards as they did so. Crin ignored them and they ignored her as she made her way back to her set where her friends awaited her.

Just as she was nearing the door that opened up to her set however, suddenly a hand clasped around her mouth and, before she could react, she was pulled out of the hallway and into a small cramped, dark room, her body being pulled up against a tall, manly body.

_Oh my goodness, crazy rock-star kidnapper!_ Crin thought with wide eyes, remembering the time when Takiko had been kidnapped by some crazed insane fan when she and Limdo had first reunited. But unlike Takiko, Crin was the wrong person to mess with (though if someone messed with Takiko now, the results would be similar due to Crin's training).

The door hadn't been closed for two seconds before Crin elbowed the man in the stomach, making him gasp in pain and release his hold on her just enough for her to be able to whirl around (more like scoot around) and throw her hand out for a punch to where she hoped was his nose.

Before her hand could connect with anything however, her attacker caught her wrist in a firm grasp. "Crin, calm down, it's me!" Tian's voice startled her into freezing, her eyes widening even more than they already were.

"Tian?" She whispered, squinting in the darkness to make his features out, but found that the room was too dark. All she could do was feel where he was, his presence surrounding her.

Which she wasn't sure was a good thing, what with her being engaged and Tian, not her fiancée, was pressing himself against her in a dark, small space.

"Where are we?" Crin demanded, trying to sound serious and demanding, but she wasn't sure she achieved that. "What are you doing? This is…this is….totally inappropriate! We can't do this Tian, I…"

"That's why I'm doing it." Suddenly his mouth crushed against hers, shutting her up effectively. His lips were only there for a second before he pulled away, leaning his forehead against hers. "I can't stand this Crin," Tian whispered, "I want to return things to the way things were."

"But they're not ever going to be that way again! I've had a few thousand years to change, I'm not…"

"No, I don't mind that. I mind…this…this guy who you're going to marry! I'm sure he's a nice guy, but honestly? I still think…no, I _know_ that we belong together! Don't you think its fate? I died before I could ask you to marry me, but now when the Gods have given you this chance at a new life, they give me the chance at a new life again too! Now we can start the life we always planned for! Look at Takiko and Limdo, they got that same opportunity and they took advantage of it! If you'd just give me a chance I could show you that we were meant to be!"

"How?" Crin found herself asking before she could think about it, her heart racing wildly in her chest. Perhaps it was the close contact with a man. Perhaps it was being in the dark together in a small space. Who knew? But something had made the word come out. And when she realized her mistake, she knew it was far too late to take it back.

Tian paused for a moment, his breath catching. "By reawakening old memories," And once again she felt his lips on hers, but this time the kiss was sweet, meaningful, meaning not to just shut her up, but to prove his love.

And she could feel his love as he moved to deepen the kiss, a kiss that was so familiar to her that it did bring her back to the book, when all that mattered to her was Tian and summoning the Gods. It was as though those thousands of years had never happened; she was still the same naïve girl she used to be, kissing the man she once loved.

So while her mind was in this little dream world, she began to kiss him back, giving him the same intensity that she gave him all those years ago. When he pulled away for air, she pulled him back, kissing him again and again and soon his mouth was traveling down her jaw line, his hands going lower and lower until one hand was at her waist and the other was at her thigh, bringing her leg up until it was wrapped around his waist.

And then the world began to move again and Crin, as she was kissing him, began to remember that she wasn't that girl anymore, that her heart wasn't there with this man anymore and that it lay with someone else.

Someone who was only in the next room over, someone she was about to betray.

Just as that thought hit her, the door suddenly opened, light flowing into the, turned out, closet, making Crin and Tian pull away from one another to see who it was that interrupted them.

Takiko.

There she stood, her eyes growing increasingly wide and her face growing increasingly red with embarrassment. Briefly, through her shock and horror, Crin wondered how it was she found them but then her eyes drifted to Takiko's chest where the necklace of the Four Gods rested, the gem glowing with Tian's mark.

And then all Crin could think was, oh snap.

"I…" Takiko started, clearly at a loss for words as she stood there, "I…I, um, was looking….but I found…well, I found…ah….well then. I guess….um….I'll see you…ah…later! Yes, um, later, by the cars…just hurry up, I guess…" And then with an embarrassed eep, she slammed the door in their faces.

For a moment, neither of them moved and then Crin began to untangle herself from him. "Crin, I…"

"No, don't you Crin me!" Crin snapped, almost to the point of tears. She'd not only almost betrayed Tomite's love after he'd told her that he trusted her judgment, but she'd been caught in the act by her best friend, who, being friends with her fiancée, probably was really disappointed in her. By now, she might have even told Tomite what she'd seen and the thought made the tears begin to fall down her cheeks. "Just…go," Crin managed to get out, trying to keep her voice down even though inside she was screaming.

"But you can't deny that there was something there," Tian began, but Crin silenced him by reaching up and, though it was still dark, miraculously found his mouth and placed her hand firmly over it.

"No, I can't. That was really unfair. You used our history together to catch me off guard, knowing that it would work, when you know that's all it is. Ancient history. The difference between Takiko and Limdo and you and I is that Takiko didn't live too long without him, and as far as she knew he wasn't dead so she knew there was a possibility that she'd see him again. You DIED Tian, I keep telling you this! I spent thousands of years hung up on you but now…now it's all history. Just because you catch me off guard in a small, dark room, it doesn't mean it's real. It's just….a fleeting momentary thing."

"You don't know that," Tian whispered.

Crin shook her head, even though she knew he couldn't see it. "I do."

"I don't believe you."

"Well, learn to believe it." Crin sighed irritably and nudged him towards the door. "Go, they're waiting for us."

"But aren't you…?"

"If we come out together, Tomite will suspect something happened between us…"

"Something did happen,"

"…which didn't happen of course. I won't hurt his feelings."

"And mine?"

Crin paused, more tears pooling into her eyes. Tian had a point. By choosing Tomite over Tian, she'd be hurting his feelings instead. But she couldn't help it, and she wished so badly that things didn't have to be this way.

But they were, and there was nothing she could do about it.

"Go." Was all she said in response and after a moment's hesitation, Tian turned and scooted out the door.

Crin waited for a while before she wiped her cheeks and, hoping she didn't look like she'd been crying, she opened the door and began to head towards the stage door, ignoring the strange looks from the back stage crew members that had seen her exiting the closet.

When she placed her hand on the door handle, she paused, wondering what she'd see on the other side. Would she see Tomite's hurt expression? Or had Takiko not told him and would she have to live with the guilt of almost going behind his back and the fear of him finding out or that Takiko would slip and tell him?

She wasn't sure she wanted to know, but she knew she needed to go in and meet with her friends. So sucking up her fear, she put on the best smile she had and opened the door.

There they all stood, waiting for her patiently. Limdo was eating some cheese cake and Takiko was looking at the floor, a far away look in her eyes. Crin wasn't sure if that meant she'd told or not, but when she turned to look at Tomite he grinned at her and came towards her, obviously wanting to greet her like a fiancé would but at that moment the guilt of what she'd almost done made her want to throw up and she instead walked past him. Tomite paused a moment before turning to follow her.

And there, standing slightly apart from everyone else, was Tian, his hands stuffed in his pockets, acting as though nothing had happened, but when he witnessed her walk past Tomite his eyebrows shot up as though to say, _"That doesn't look much like love to me."_ Crin wanted to scream at him that it was his fault she couldn't stand to be touched by Tomite now; she felt too dirty for it. She wanted to scream and cry and plead with him to stop doing this to her, to stop ripping her heart in two.

But she didn't.

Instead she merely smiled brightly and, avoiding eye contact with everyone there but Limdo, said, "Let's get going! We don't want to be late!"

"I wonder whose fault that would be?" Limdo grumbled and if it had been under normal circumstances Crin would have either smacked him upside the head or called him a stupid head or something similar, but given that he was the only one here who she could look at without feeling like she'd swallowed a bunch of boulders she did none of those things. Instead she rolled her eyes and walked out to the parking lot.

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Over an hour after discovering…well, whatever that had been, I was still shocked into almost complete silence. I suppose I shouldn't have been too surprised considering that Tian was the man Crin had fallen in love with and had technically never fallen out of love with and he'd sworn to win her affections back.

I just didn't expect to find them going at it in a closet, with Crin seemingly very…ah…willing.

Of course I knew Crin had to choose, but that didn't mean she had to go behind her fiancé's back.

What was I going to do about it? Nothing. I didn't know what was going on inside Crin's head and there could have been a misunderstanding. With everything else that was going on, I didn't want to risk getting Tomite upset over a misunderstanding. Now the knowledge of what I'd seen was eating me up inside. Tomite was one of my closest friends too; by not telling him I was betraying him and the thought of betraying him made me want to throw up.

So I hardly said anything as we headed over to the airport. We'd rented two sixteen passenger vans and I was in the van with Limdo and Tian (Crin had insisted Tian go with us, which caused me to wonder what I was missing from this story), but that made everything really awkward. The radio was crappy, so we didn't bother to turn it on but that meant we sat in an uncomfortable silence. A couple of times Limdo tried to start a conversation with one of us, but both Tian and I gave one answer replies that didn't stimulate more conversation. Finally Limdo gave up and just drove, staring forward with furrowed eyebrows that told me he was very confused by our behavior.

When we met up at the airport the awkward silence continued. No one said a word or looked each other in the eye as we made our way to the list of flights to check on the arrivals of the planes. "Crin's warriors are on that flight, right?" Tomite asked, pointing to a flight number.

"Mmmmhmmmm," was all I said in reply.

We fell into silence again as we sat down in the waiting area. To make things even more uncomfortable I sat in between Limdo and Tomite and Crin sat in between Tomite and Tian.

The tense emotions were practically flying.

I don't know how long exactly we sat there like that but it felt like years. It could have been half an hour, fifteen minutes or even fifteen seconds before Crin finally stood up, directing all of our attention to her. "I'm going to go buy some candy," She announced and without waiting for us to reply she turned and left.

A few moments of silence, then Tomite also stood up. "I think I'm going to visit the book stand." I gave him a skeptical look; Tomite didn't read anything unless it had to do with Crin or a new recipe. "Would you like to come with me Tian? Perhaps you'll find something you'll like." Tian didn't strike me as a book person but nevertheless Tian nodded and stood, following after him.

Leaving me alone with my sweet husband who hadn't ever done anything to make me feel like a traitor.

I instantly leaned against him, sighing heavily. He wrapped his arm around my shoulders and kissed the top of my head before asking, "Is there something I'm missing? You're all acting very strange…well, stranger than usual."

I shook my head and buried my face into his chest, inhaling his comforting earthly smell. "No…well yes, but I'll tell you tonight when we're alone. And I am not strange."

"Whatever you say," Limdo replied with a chuckle and a squeeze.

We stayed like that, completely content as we watched the arrival board for the first flight from China. "Do you think we'll find the last three Byakko warriors quickly?" I found myself asking.

"We can hope, but it's probably unlikely. You know how difficult it can be to…"

And suddenly, my necklace was reacting, heating up against my bare skin as it began to form the first symbol. And, as I bolted away from Limdo and grabbed hold of the necklace to peer into the jewel, a couple walked by, hand in hand as they headed to the front entrance.

First one symbol that belonged to Byakko, and then shortly after, another as the couple passed.

There were two Byakko warriors right there.

As soon as I realized that, I bolted up and out of my seat, taking off at a run after the couple.

Two more warriors were found.

One left to go until the final battle.

Tomite pretended to sort through the magazines at the stand, watching Tian also pretend to look through books that he clearly had no interest in. Somehow Tomite didn't think Tian liked "Gossip Girl."

It was now or never.

Tomite put down the magazine he was pretending to look at and faced Tian. "I'm not intimidated by you." Tian tensed for a brief moment before he casually put the book back and turned to him, looking like he didn't know what he was talking about.

"Okay then, why would you have been intimidated by me anyways?" Tian asked, but despite the act Tomite could see in his eyes that Tian knew exactly what he was talking about.

"Because I know that you're trying to get my fiancée back, and I want you to know that I'm not worried about it." Tomite clarified, trying to keep his cool as well. Too bad he was never all that good at playing it cool in the first place.

"Not worried about it?" Tian scoffed with a short laugh, "If you weren't worried about it, we wouldn't be having this conversation."

"Perhaps," Tomite agreed reluctantly, "I just want you to know where I stand. Because I know when it comes down to it, what Crin and I have is something that can't be broken. And nothing you can do or say will ever change that."

For a moment Tian said nothing and the two celestial warriors merely stared each other down, completely ignoring the crowd of people that walked around them. Finally Tian smiled without any humor. "There was a time when I thought that as well." Tian finally turned away. "I didn't find anything I liked, so I'm heading back. And oh, by the way remember this; fire always wins over ice." And before Tomite could reply, Tian walked away.

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"…So that's the short version of the story, and why we need your help to complete the mission." I finished; the two warriors, Tokaki and Subaru (who were married apparently) looked nice enough. I just hoped they understood the grave danger the world was in and didn't protest because otherwise I might have a heart attack.

For a moment neither one said a thing, only looked at me like I was insane. "So let me get this straight," Tokaki started, taking a glance at the crowd to make sure no bystanders were listening, "You, Takiko Okuda…I mean, Roun, is the Priestess of Genbu and because the Four Gods not only brought your warriors, but your enemies into this world, the world has been unbalanced and if you don't gather all the Priestesses and their 28 constellations the world will be thrown into chaos, thus ending it?"

"Pretty much," I replied with a shrug. "If you don't believe me you can ask my warriors; we're here to pick up not only the Suzaku and Seriyu warriors and their priestesses but Crin's, the first Priestess I told you about, warriors."

Once again they stared at me like I was insane. "Well either you are smoking something or you're telling the truth. And if that's the case, I want to see Miaka and the Suzaku warriors…though Seriyu we could all do without I'm sure." I couldn't agree more. "I've never heard of this 'First Priestess' though." I wasn't about to mention it was probably because the Gods wanted to hide Crin's mistakes. Crin wouldn't appreciate it.

I led them back to where Limdo still sat watching me carefully to make sure I didn't need back up. When we approached I smiled warmly and Limdo stood up, towering over all three of us. "This is my husband and Celestial Warrior Limdo, known as Uruki. Limdo, these are the Byakko warriors Tokaki and Subaru." Limdo stuck his hand out and shook both their hands, all three of them murmuring 'nice to meet you.'

"So what are you two doing in LA?" Limdo asked, stuffing his hands in his pockets. I couldn't help but think how sexy he looked when he did that.

"We're here for a second honeymoon." Subaru practically sang, grasping her husband's hand. "We've been married for three years!"

"Oh, congratulations!" I said with a smile, looking at Limdo. Perhaps someday we would be taking our second honeymoon, once all of this mess with the Gods was finished.

"Yeah, congrats," Limdo said, flashing me a knowing grin before he turned back to them. "Want to spend it helping us kick bad-guy butt?"

I frowned a little, worried that it would sound insensitive. But Tokaki and Subaru didn't seem offended. Tokaki pounded his fist into his hand, grinning cockily. "I'm always up for a good fight!"

Subaru smiled in a way that reminded me suspiciously of Crin right before she sprang into action. "Count us in."

I relaxed. "Great, now we only need one more warrior to complete…."

I trailed off at the look that Tokaki and Subaru gave each other. "Priestess, which warriors have you already found?" asked Tokaki.

I listed them off for him. "Why do you look like someone died?"

"Because someone _did_ die," replied Subaru gravely, "Tatara was our priestesses lover; at the end of their journey, they linked their lives together. When our priestess died, his life ended with hers."

A silence passed over us. "That's…tragic yet beautiful. I'm happy they found each other again." I said, my mind whirling with this new development.

Subaru nodded. "Perhaps someday they will have a chance to be reincarnated back into this life so that they can spend their life together."

"That would be nice," I agreed, wondering briefly if the Gods would allow that.

"You have the Oracle's necklace, right?" Tokaki asked. I nodded, pressing a hand to where it was hidden beneath my shirt. "Good," Tokaki nodded in satisfaction, "You'll need that to fill in for our priestess and her warrior at the summoning."

"I know. I just wish it didn't have to be that way."

"We all do." Subaru said sadly.

Suddenly Crin popped up, as she normally did, from nowhere. "LOOK! I GOT CANDY!" she cried, holding up giant shopping bags of treats.

Both Tokaki and Subaru, unused to Crin's antics, looked at her, startled. "And you are?" Tokaki asked, his hand inching towards his side out of instinct. I was glad he didn't have a weapon to draw; I was not keen on Crin starting a fight in the airport.

"Crin, this is Tokaki and Subaru; they're the last Byakko warriors. Tokaki, Subaru, this is Crin; she's the original priestess I spoke to you about." They looked at her as though she was the last thing they were expecting from a priestess.

Crin's eye's flashed black, startling Subaru into taking a step back. "What about the third?"

I shook my head slightly and understanding my meaning Crin frowned. "I'll tell you later. Just know that we are finished collecting the warriors."

A silence descended on us as the impact of my words finally hit us. We were done. We had completed the impossible.

All we had to do now was summon the Gods.

"Well then." Crin said, putting her hands on her hips, her eyes changing to electric blue and her jaw tightening in determination. "Let's finish this thing."

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**I am a horrible person I know. I've probably lost all of my reviewers. But I have a good excuse; I now attend college, so most of the time I'm busy pulling all nighters on essays I'm not exactly keen on writing. But I've taken a job that is pretty...low key. So my plan is to just write then, come home, copy it into the computer, and hopefully I can finish this thing within the next few weeks. **

**Some issues I'd like to address;**

**I have received a lot of reviews asking why I chose the name Limdo rather than Uruki, Rimundo, etc. Here's why. When I first read this series, I read it as the English translation. Unlike Tamahome, where everyone prefers his warrior name to his complicated Chinese name that most of us probably can't pronounce, much less remember, I really am not a huge fan of the name Uruki. Maybe it's because for most of the series Limdo didn't want to be called by it so it just sort of stuck. Plus, I figure that Limdo still tells Takiko to call him by his real name whenever they aren't behaving strictly on the grounds of priestess and warrior, and now that they're in the real world, I kept it at his real name. In the English translation, it is spelled as Limdo. It was only after I started this story that I read a Japanese version where it was Rimundo. I will admit, I like Rimundo a lot. But I cannot just go back and change the bazillion times I've written it in these three stories. Like I said, I do have other things to do. So I'm going to keep it as Limdo until the end of the story. **

**I am planning on publishing a sequel to this series once this one is completed. I am considering changing Limdo's name, but I'm not sure I'll do that because it still is linked to this one. But if there is a lot of haters on the name Limdo, I'll change it. I don't see the big deal; the only reason why it's spelled Rimundo is because there is no L in the Japanese alphabet. Therefore, R is used as a replacement for the L sound, so you would say his name, "Limundo." As a fluent speaker in Japanese, that sounds more like "Limdo" to the common foreigner, so that's probably why the English translators spelled his name that way. **

**So, if you're new to this story, welcome. Please review! One of the main reasons why I finally finished this chapter was because people keep reviewing this story, and I too love it very much. If you're a previous reader, waiting anxiously for this chapter...man you're a trooper, welcome back and please don't hate me for the rest of forever because that would suck. :( **

**Stay awesome my friends!**

**Yours, **

**Alice**


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